Have you ever said I want my freedom?
Or did you ever hear from other people how they want their freedom?
But what does that mean actually?
Well, most of the time it means having more options. It means picking up from the stack so you can do whatever you want. Nowadays we can be blessed with the opportunities and possibilities that are given to us. But, instead of being happy more and more people are suffering from anxiety and depression.
So what is actually happening?
The more choices we have the harder it is to decide what to choose. If we choose one option and it doesn’t go well, we can suffer from the anxiety of having taken the wrong choice. So, we are prone to always have a plan B.
But can you see the problem here?
How can you commit if you cannot decide? How can you create depth when there is always an escape hatch lurking?
You see, people don’t want freedom. They actually want to avoid responsibility. They want to do whatever they (think they) want. And every time they do the “whatever I want”, “I don’t care” act, it makes them miserable.
In short, somehow we mixed the term freedom with doing what we selfishly want.
Real freedom means choosing your weight. Choosing your cross that you’ll carry. It means willingly deciding priorities and limiting yourself. It means going all in. The thing is that real freedom is a byproduct of responsibility and discipline.
And I’m not saying it is easy, actually, it is quite terrifying… But what do you get when you avoid responsibility?
Well… Hello darkness, my old friend.
Therefore, don’t strive for “more options” freedom and do not even let freedom be the end goal… Strive for responsibility.
This article is influenced by Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Mark Manson’s Everything is Fucked so if you want more details on these topics check those books out.