What does “freedom” mean to you? According to the 1969 book “Illusions of Our Culture” by Leonard Griffith,
Freedom is an illusion.
He likens it to the parable of the Prodigal Son.
The Prodigal Son does not like the rules of his parents house so he takes his inheritance early, sells it, moves to a faraway land, squanders the money, and finds the rules as a servant of someone else are fair worse. Not to mention no one cares for him there. He returns home wiser, ready to take the lowest position in his father’s household, but is welcomed as if he has come home from the dead.
Griffith claims that no one is free from his or her weaknesses or from the moral rules originally laid out as the Ten Commandments.
He cites Victor Hugo’s words “the liberty of one citizen ends where the liberty of another citizen begins”.
What if your goal to be financially free?
It is an illusion.
Your possessions can be stolen. You can meet people who only like you for your money. You could find that your desire to have more alienates you from the ones you love. None of that is freedom.
So what do you really want?
If you want to discover what you really want, go through the exercise of the 7 Whys.
Ask yourself what you want. Write it down. Ask yourself why you want that.
Write your answer down.
Continue asking five more times. Somewhere around question four or five it is going to get really difficult. You will want to say “I don’t know”, but do not let yourself off the hook. Keep digging.
It is worth it.
My big why is “joy”. Yours may be “love”, “joy” or “excitement”, or it could be to avoid “fear”, “anger”, “sadness”, or “disgust”.
And, while that may not necessarily be “freedom”, it certainly does seem freeing. ❤
What do you really want? Do you know your why?