Choose to set yourself free

I’m lucky to live in a democratic society and have the freedom to choose. I can choose the work I do, where I live, my partner and so on. Not everyone is so lucky. Yet we often take for granted our ability to choose and instead of choosing wisely, we put constraints around ourselves. One of the best days of my life was the day my dog and I ran around on a beach in the pouring rain. We were completely free. That’s us in the picture.

It’s easy to take what we have for granted. I didn’t realise how much I valued my freedom and my ability to choose until I did a job where I was so constrained that I could barely function. I felt like a caged animal and the manager I worked for never got the best out of me.

I changed my job and I’ve never looked back. The truth is that I can only give my absolute best when I am free. Now when I make choices, I consider how much freedom that choice will give me because I realise how important it is to me.

Where are you constraining your freedom?

How will you set yourself free?

Changing your job is a major change but you can set yourself free in smaller ways. How many times do you agree to do something that you don’t really want to do?

You have a choice. You can say No.

Of course there is an impact of choosing and sometimes the choices are difficult. And still we have a choice.

We often get caught up in believing that things are expected of us or that we are letting people down if we say No. The thing is…. you are letting yourself down when you refuse to choose. You are letting yourself down when you live the life that you think everyone else wants you to live instead of living the life that you really want to live.

The only person stopping you from doing anything… is you.

Set yourself free today. Make that a conscious choice.

Putting it into practice:

1. Think of something that you do regularly that you don’t like doing. Perhaps you always say Yes to people at work? Perhaps you meet up with frineds when you would rather have a night in? Perhaps you go along with the majority opinion because you don’t want to rock the boat?
2. Start saying No to one thing or one person. Consider the impact of choosing. Do this every day for a week. Try with the small things and build up to the bigger things.
3. Please do post your comments below and let me know what it’s like to choose.

With love,
Jude. x

Related posts:

1. Step into freedom
2. Is the fear of rejection running your life?
3. Choosing your speed