Your Freedom

What would your life be like if you were able to enjoy completely living free?

The catalyst for this post was a comment I received from one of the many professionals I know and continue to interact with from my varied professional career. Here is the comment and I quote it, "Quite the life you're leading, Ed.  I'm envious of your freedom."

I appreciate the comment, but I wonder why so many people are "envious" of my freedom. I honestly haven't done anything all that unique, courageous or heroic. I simply reached a point in my life when I made a conscious choice, a decision to change my lifestyle. Life is all about choices. We've been making them ever since we were infants. You probably don't remember, but you probably made the choice not to eat those gosh awful looking and tasting  strained peas they called "baby food."

So, why would anyone be envious of a choice I made, unless . . . he or she is not happy, content, fulfilled or feel free with the choices he or she has made for his or her life? I do not pass judgment on anyone else's choices. Believe me when I say, even though I've essentially been self-employed all my life (except for a period of conscription when I served in the U.S. Air Force - a choice - for four years), I made choices that limited, restricted and curtailed my freedom, happiness, contentment and feelings of fulfillment.

Even today, I'm not completely free and while I'm usually happy, by choice, I'm not always happy or feel completely fulfilled. It's a process and there are lots of obstacles to overcome on this journey for me and everyone similar to me. Being envied doesn't may me feel freer, happier, more content or fulfilled. It simply leaves me wondering what I can do to assist other people to find their own freedom, happiness, contentment and fulfillment. As the old saying goes, "it's different strokes for different folks." I don't have your answers. So, let's play a game of . . .

What If?

I'll pose a series of questions. You simply answer them honestly for yourself, you don't have to send the answer to me, unless you want to. Be completely honest with yourself. Don't consider how your spouse, children, parents, siblings or friends would want you to think. These are your true answers only for yourself. And, please notice, I didn't provide you with any examples. This is a "Big Boy/Big Girl" game. You know the answers, just be honest with yourself. 

Freedom

1. What would your life - freedom - look like if you could live any way you personally choose?

2. What laws, regulations, restrictions, limitations, rules, regulations, etc. would you choose to limit any impact on your life?

3. Who, if anyone, would you choose to share this freedom with?

Work

1. What would you choose to do to sustain yourself if you were free to choose any path or endeavor you want to?

2. How hard would work or, better yet, enjoy this endeavor of your choosing?

3. How much time per day, days per week, weeks per year would you commit to this endeavor you enjoy?

Where

1. Where would you choose to live geographically - consider region or country in the world, region of that country, specific state or province and city - or would you choose suburban, rural or outback?

2. Would you consider being nomadic and traveling throughout a state, province, region, country, continent or the world?

3. Would you consider simply being in a fixed location or migratory moving between two or three predetermined locations with the seasons?

Relationships

1. Who would you include in your living free world - a spouse or partner, married or not, children, other relatives, friends, etc.?

2. What kinds of relationships would you choose to have?

3. Who would provide the revenue for your sustenance by paying you for your chosen work endeavor?

Transportation

1. How would you travel if moving through migratory cycles or you chose to be nomadic traveling often and across large areas?

2. What would it be if you chose some kind of motorized conveyance - a car (what kind), a truck or van, an RV of some kind that could double as your home, a motor scooter or motorcycle?

3. Would you use public transportation, rental vehicles, bicycles, hitchhike or any other ideas?

Housing

1. What kind of shelter would you choose - traditional house (how large and what kind of construction), a tiny house, an apartment or condo, a yurt, a tent of some kind, an RV, a structure of your own design and construction, a shelter of some other kind?

2. How much room would you require for yourself or yourself and anyone living with you?

3. What kind of community would your house be in - a traditional neighborhood, on a farm or ranch, on a large amount of very isolated, primitive land, in a commune, cooperative or apartment complex, would there be any considerations as to age, gender, religious beliefs, nationality, race, interests, etc. of others around you?

Lifestyle

1. Would you live simply?

2. Would you live frugally?

3. What would your hobbies, interests and passions be?

The Stuff of Life

1. What stuff would you eliminate from your life?

2. What stuff will you need to maintain a balance between freedom, happiness, contentment and feeling you are living a fulfilling life?

3. What stuff will you want that isn't a real need, but will provide that little extra zest to your life?

What If?

So, there you are. I have given you 24 questions to answer. These are not all the questions that one could apply to this game. You may have others that are more relevant to yourself. Feel free to add them or replace some of mine with yours. These are not difficult questions to respond to if you know what you really want from your life. However, they can be very difficult to answer if you're answering what you believe your spouse, children, parents, siblings, friends and other people, society in general and the government expect from you. Maybe it's been a long, long time since you've dared ask yourself any questions like these.

This "What If" game is only for your personal edification. What if you really could make all these choices (and, by the way, you can) the way you and only you would want to live? Knowing what you know now after experiencing however much life you've lived, would you be in the same occupation/job, have chosen a different educational path, married the same person, live where you live, etc.?

Yes! IF you actually play this "What If" game, you may end with some feelings of discontent, realize you're not nearly as free as you thought you were, are not truly happy, but just going through the motions and do not feel like you are fulfilling your life as it should be lived. But, if you have read through this article before answering the questions, you may not want to actually play the game. However, if you do, and you find that you haven't been true to yourself, remember, you don't know how long you actually have on this planet.

If you're single and have no children to be responsible for, you may want to modify some of your life by making some new choices. If you are attached to someone else in some manner, marriage or otherwise, perhaps you should allow that person to also play the same "What If" game. Maybe you'll find areas of common ground and areas you can easily compromise on. Maybe you'll find that you're both discontent, feeling trapped, not happy and missing the fulfillment boat. And maybe you'll find you've been cheating each other and your children, etc. by not being true to yourselves and each other.

Everything is about choices. Everyone has to make them. They are not necessarily good or bad, depending on your own perspective. And, of course, not making a hard choice is itself a choice. Don't envy people who have made choices that you view as making them freer, happier, more content and seemingly living a fulfilling life. You can't evaluate your life by anyone else's. But, you can make choices for your own life to bring you to the same place based on your definitions of freedom, happiness, contentment and fulfillment. The choices are all yours.