Let Freedom Reign

"Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains." (Jean Jacques Rousseau) What does it take to be healthy in your mind, body and spirit. Where do I begin!? That is such a complicated yet ironically simple answer. The answer is simple but everyone makes it complicated. You have to be healthy in your head first. You can try to be healthy in your habits but if you aren't healthy in your mind, your mind will undermine all of your efforts in maintaining healthy habits. Your mind has to be on board. Often people set out to do hypnosis, read books to change habits, join clubs and so on. These things work for awhile but slowly the person slips back into the unhealthy lifestyle they've always lived. So the first key component is a healthy mind. The healthy mind will say I WILL and then all of the supportive techniques like self-help books, spiritual support, therapy, and clubs, merely reinforce the person's I WILL attitude. The second key component is about change. To change one's mindset and to then change your life means you must embrace change. Most people resist change. People don't even realize how scared they are of change! Many will say,"well, I tried a new restaurant this week!" That's not change. I'm talking about being open to change and then heading into change, wherever that may lead. Change means heading into unfamiliar and often uncomfortable territory which means letting go of what is known. Heading into the unknown is exhilarating yet scary. Change breeds the best opportunity for personal growth and yet many succumb to fear.... refusing to grow from the experience. What does that fear look like? It appears as complaining, pointing out all of the things you dislike about the changes and often the person does everything possible to go back to the way it was, even if the way it was wasn't healthy or was stagnating growth. The refusal and fear of change affects all levels of society from corporations, families, school systems, and governments. Often things will get to a breaking point and systems then have no other choice but to change but the resistance is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. The key, to embrace change gracefully rather than with hostility or denial. Some changes we instigate and others are forced on us, but either way... it's an opportunity to learn something. Let's face it, everything changes. Comfort and security is really an illusion. It is a necessary illusion at times but it's not real. Things change every passing moment from the time, the season's, the tides, people die, people are born, kids grow up, weather wipes out towns, and so on. Change is ever present and embracing that fact will make it easier to flow with change more easily rather than trying to get into a debate with change. Change always wins the argument. There is a guy that lived in a neighborhood in his parents garage. He didn't change but the neighborhood changed around him. The neighborhood kids grew up and moved away, his parents grew old, some houses fell to pieces, while others were renovated. An old church down the street was torn down. He went from being a 22 year old to a 62 year old, living in the same garage. He couldn't stop change, even though he never moved from his spot. Change happened anyway, even to someone that never moved on. To recap, the first two key components to being healthy are a healthy mind and being open to change. The third key factor... the willingness to reinvent yourself. What does that mean, you say. The energy of change brings about new inventions, discovering things previously unimagined and it brings about the opportunity to reinvent yourself. If change brings about new discoveries, why can't you discover that you too can completely shed old patterns and experience life on your terms. Of course if you fear change and you stay stagnated, being led by an unhealthy mind, then your opportunities are limited. If however, you say I WILL, you head into change with an open mind and thus your unhealthy habits that were previously distracting you and keeping you in an unhealthy cycle start to fall away... and then guess what happens? You can be and do anything because you are free. I must preface, the opposite happens if you resist change because the unhealthy mind sabotages and unhealthy habits increase!! That's why often you see people drink more, eat more, gain weight, lose weight, get sick, increase prescription drugs., etc, when change is being resisted. That is why it is imperative to challenge one's resistant thoughts and assess why change is so feared. Once you are free however, you see unlimited possibilities in front of you. Freedom...defined as independence, self-rule, and autonomy. A healthy person in mind, body and spirit is a person who is free. "A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." (Ezra Pound)