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Creative Books
and Music, L.L.C. |
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Freedom symbolizes our country's Fourth of July celebrations. We cherish this precious human right as a privilege and blessing. The feeling of freedom needs to be continually protected within our homes, but first within ourselves. How many times have you imposed restrictions on yourself? Are your limitations based on fear or past experiences? Do your rules create happiness or pain? By looking at the big picture of your life, you may begin to see that freedom exists first in your mind and then everywhere else. Look at your day as a neutral experience. Observe the things you see without attaching an opinion. For example, "The sun is shining" or "It's raining outside", etc. Now, notice your thoughts surrounding your observations. Do you think it's a wonderful day whether it's raining or not? How do your opinions influence your life and those around you? How about the people in your life? Do you allow the opinions or attitudes of others to derail you? This one's challenging, especially when you feel affected by someone you love. If someone "presses your buttons" and you become upset, stop and observe your feelings. The person is incidental, just a "character" playing a role to help you meet yourself. In other words, as you experience the theme of your emotions, such as anger, sadness, depression, etc., you may begin to deal with your feelings about those issues. This allows you the freedom to take responsibility for your own actions and choose your response without blaming the other person for how you feel. We all have similar human traits to different degrees. Someone's experience or attitude may remind us of our own human tendencies thus eliciting a response within us. As we step back to see the message of our experience, we may learn to separate the person from their action. Instead of disliking the person, we may choose to dislike the behavior. We are unique individuals, but we are also united by our humanness. The way we treat ourselves is how we tend to treat others. When we stop hurting ourselves, we stop doing this to others. Communicating honestly and respectfully with people allows us the freedom to express ourselves and heal relationship wounds. By being kind and loving to ourselves, we attract positive energy from other people. Life is full of learning from our experiences. Our best lessons usually come from learning from our mistakes. Think of a mistake as a missed goal. In life, when we miss our goal we usually have opportunities to try again or change our approach. Forgiving ourselves for our mistakes frees us from our painful past and naturally extends forgiveness to others. Through forgiveness, our energy is renewed and our happiness is restored. A positive affirmation I created for myself is, "I am human. Mistakes are normal. Forgiveness is my 'reset button'." Redefining our inner rules and creating new ways to look at life, creates a freedom within our inner being. As we become happier in allowing ourselves this new freedom to embrace life, we teach our children how to honor themselves and create inner rules that work for them. Since we can't always be around to guide their behavior, we can teach children healthy self-discipline by living our lives as a positive example. Together, we discover that forgiveness, happiness, and love create the keys to freedom.
Further Reading: What Do You Really Want for Your Children by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Sandra Agazzi
Chimenti, author of The Real Me: Awakening Your True Self, is a parent
and educator with a master's degree in Early Childhood Education. (The Growing Parents column
appeared each month in a local newspaper in Michigan from 2001 - 2007.) |
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