The life of absolute freedom

The life of ultimate freedom

I wish to travel to Japan and leave the tons of house chores and work behind. I wish to sleep in on my warm bed for as longs as I want, not forced to get out of bed for work or school. I wish I could spend more time with my friends. I wish we could laugh at our favourite movie, rather than going to the doctor for a useless appointment.

I wish to be absolutely free from everything.

How often does this simple wish cross our mind? Be completely free. It always sounds like the perfect dream. If we could turn any dream into reality, this would be the first one to pop up in many minds.

We saw freedom in our favourite movies and our favourite celebrities life's. Every time, we would watch them in awe. First we admire them, of course we do. They are able to do everything they want in this world. Yet as the thoughts sicker in, admiration turns into jealousy as one ruthless question dominates the mind.

Why am I not the one who is absolutely free?

Let me ask you a question. Do you truly wish for total freedom?

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If we think of liberty we instantly think of no work, no stress and no pressure. However, there is more to it than it seems and to truly know what freedom is, we need to ask ourselves one question.

What is it, that makes us want to be free?

It is the hard times in life. The times when we need to do the exact opposite of what we wish to do. That are the moments we wish for complete freedom.

If we would be able to truly attain total liberty, it would mean that if I am stressed because of an upcoming exam, I could just walk away without consequences. If you disliked a person – no – if a person dislikes you, they could just punch you and hurt you without consequences. They could hurt your friends and family without consequences. If a father feels overwhelmed by his duties as a father, he could just leave his child alone on the streets without consequences. That is what being absolutely free gives you: the power to run away from hardships without consequences. You flee from the problems in your life, you flee from your duties as a friend, parent, sibling or human being, because you are not strong enough to face the challenges in life.

By running away you leave the problems to others to fix which gives them the opposite from liberty. You take away their freedom, not by force or with malicious intent, but you do it simply because you are unwilling to face the difficulties.

Now is a free person truly that admirable? Would you still be proud of yourself if you ran away from everything?

So, is it still freedom you really desire?

Yes?

Then let me tell you: true freedom is an unreachable goal. It is a wish that is whispered into the wind and carried away the second after. There is no way to every truly be free.

If you have a friend, it is your duty to take care of them and consider their feelings. You may go out with them to cheer them up, although you feel like staying at home. You stop yourself from commenting about their clothes or fight over every topic you disagree on. That is what friendship is about. It is a relationship of acceptance and support. Just like you would do almost anything for your best friend, they are ready to take care of you the same way you do. Friendship doesn't make you free, it makes you feel fulfilled.

If you live in a country, you are obliged to follow the rules. You cannot step on banknotes in Thailand since that means to disrespect their king. You mustn't publicly chew gum in Singapore due to it being banned. I am not good talking countries that suppress their people to an extreme degree. I am talking about the simple gestures of showing respect, that limit your freedom yet doesn't harm you in any way.

If you become a parent, you need to take care of your child. You chose to become a parent thus it is your duty to nurture your kid, take care of them and keep them save. It is a natural order that bonds you to your child and partner but is not bad. It is the way of life.

Trying to attain absolute freedom, means avoiding not only hardships but human relationships, human emotions and human responsibilities. It means to run away from life itself and the only way to be truly absolutely free is to die. I believe no one wants to die in order to be free.

Working your whole life towards complete liberty will only result in disappointment and may drive you into depression. The longer and harder you wish for it, the clearer the realisation becomes that true freedom is unattainable. You are not able to do anything to be free from everything.

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I believe that it is not complete freedom we wish for. The aching wish you feel in difficult times is not the desire to be free. It is the desire to rest, to spend time with your friends and to sleep more.

It is the desire to be happy.

Those things have nothing to do with freedom. It only has to do with your dedication and time.

We wish we had more time to spend on activities and people that make us happy instead of on boring, energy-draining tasks.

This longing for happiness is an achievable goal compared to the desire for total freedom.

You are able to look for a work position that makes you feel fulfilled. You are able to search for time slots in your day to meet your loved ones. You are able to go after your hobby. Those are things you are able to do in order to be happy.

Are we free by doing that? No. Are we happy? Yes.

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Freedom is a wish that seems like the sweetest dream yet turns out to be the most bitter lie. We believe that people with true liberty are admirable to the point we feel jealous. Yet people pursuing complete freedom are nothing but cowards when they flee from their own problems, leaving them for others to handle. We believe that we need liberty for a fulfilling life, yet it is more time we really need.

Absolute freedom can never be obtained. We are never able to be unconditionally free.

And it's okay.

It is happiness we seek.

And for the life of happiness we do not need the life of ultimate freedom.