With 4th of July celebrations now behind us, do you still hear the word ‘independence” much? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what true independence means? Do you find true independence in your life?
Independence is the disconnection from that which holds us back, alters our nature and dictates our actions. Independence is a choice we make every day. I am sad to say that we are not very good at making the choice to be independent. Of course, we must operate within the confines of a society, which regulates a lot of our life. But what with the rest? What do we do with the freedom that was given to us in order to create a happy life? Do we create businesses and do work that is rooted in true independence?
If you compare yourself to a flower that was given its unique potential to grow, and bloom from the infinite potential of the universe, then there is nothing that flower does to limit that potential. At least, not willingly. We, on the other hand, really like to limit ourselves. We rob ourselves of our own independence by seeking to create a life that is not based on our true nature, but on the principles lived by those who came before us, or who live around us.
If we don’t seek to understand what our true nature is, we become prone to cloning careers, paths, faith and societal existence of others because we seek to match what we see, know and admire. Our fear not to belong and of an unknown future, and our pain from the past, kick our own independence in the butt all the time. We fight a double war while trying to fit in. This is pure dependenceon externalities and realities that have nothing to do with who we are.
If we want to become truly independent and successful people, we need to flip our dependence from external to internal. From acquired beliefs to our internal truth. From foreign messages to our own story. Don’t make your life’s work about something that does not connect to your own personal potential.
Self-ownership- that is, the total awareness of one’s potential and the desire to share it with the world as your purpose- makes you bulletproof to ideas and concepts that rob you of your independence. Such an awareness doesn’t allow for distraction, but creates alignment and dedication to a single worthy cause.
What can we do? Celebrate our own independence by becoming better inward-listeners. When we stand still, when we let the world spin away from us and go into a space of silence, we mute the noise which creates external dependence and we crank up the signal of our own voice, which creates internal dependence. We lose sight of an unknown future and let go of past pain. This place is what I like to call ‘the garden of self-love.’ Because self-love really is the mother of self-dependence and foreign-independence.
The more you visit this place, the more you can detach from what holds you back. You also become aware of your potential and start seeking to serve it with every waking moment through your actions. And then, every day becomes a true Independence Day.
