How do we define freedom? Are we really free? Does everyone experience freedom? Can we get the freedom we want?
Friends, fellow scholars and thinkers, a blessed morning!
These questions lingered in my mind since elementary years. Answers kept its silence until this day. I know these queries also bother you. And now I will do what our philosophy professor did to our class, I challenge you and your freedom.
Our forefathers fought the invaders and colonizers in the name of freedom. Civil wars started to obtain freedom and independence. The search for freedom from unrighteous government and rightly change pushed Filipinos to march on the streets during EDSA revolutions. Convict’s freedom and some rights were denied by the law. Slaves never gained their freedom to live for themselves. Less fortunate people lament for they want to free themselves from extreme poverty. Youths, nowadays, were liberal that they rebelled against their parents. They do it to free themselves from their parent’s supervision and live as to what they want. We all cry for freedom, in different tongues, styles, purposes and time. It is a general word which we frequently encounter. And the truth is we all desire to have freedom- to be free to have our own way.
According to Webster, freedom is a condition or a state of being free. It is a state we experience which is processed from the mind and influenced by outside factors. One of my mentors said that freedom is only in the mind. Essentially, she is right. It is the same from being happy, being in-love, being sad, being worried, being afraid, or being sick. Our freedom lies in what we think and in what we do regarding it. A person may feel he’s free even his inside a prison cell, while a freeman can think he’s imprisoned.
I repeat. Our freedom depends on us. It relies on how we think about ourselves and how we look everything around us. If we are enslaved of something or someone, we tend to say that we are not free. We only feel it because of our low self-esteems and we indeed lost our hope. If we look things in their worst side, we feel burdened and less free to live. Optimism and enthusiasm in life give us freedom from worries and fears. Remember also that peace of mind is an indicator of freedom. The calmness of the heart guides us to a free and blessed life.
We lived in a democratic country, but it seems ironic that we don’t really understand the term freedom. It is a well associated word to democracy. We used it often but we don’t know what it really stands for. Some interpretations and opinions would say that freedom is just being free- free to do anything with no bounds. Is it true? Of course, it is not true.
There is no such thing as total freedom existing on earth. We can’t do things freely as to what we want. People who say they attained total freedom are liars. It is an illusion, an abstract and a fool’s dream. Freedom is not an absolute term for its meaning and value vary from person to person, but in general, freedom can’t be total. Freedom is being free within specific bounds. Our freedom has limits. In Mathematics, its graph has end points and is not continuous. Same as rights, our freedom ends when the freedom of others begins.
In other words, we can’t attain total freedom, but we can be free. We can experience freedom, but not to the extent we usually want. We can do righteous acts freely but not evil ones. We can freely walk on land except fly in the air. We can express ourselves freely yet it is controlled by ethics. Who says that people under dictatorship doesn’t experience freedom? People living under dictatorship still freely live and work though regulated by the dictator’s order. Hence, freedom can’t become total because of laws. The natural laws, laws of God and laws of man define the boundaries and the area of our freedom. We are free as long as we are not against those bounds. Simply, laws are the limits of freedom.
Now think. Are you free? Do you experience freedom? Do you still wish to achieve total freedom? It’s time for you to answer.
*first posted on semaj-lien.weebly.com
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