Doesn’t it sound amazing? To be free, always.
The idea of being unburdened by obligations, mental pressure, or expectations.
What if I told you that is possible?
Maybe you were like me as a child—one of those kids who made a birthday wish list well in advance. Just like my son does now, I would spend months thinking about what to put on that list and how to rank the items. I vividly remember sitting at my desk as an eight-year-old boy, staring at a blank sheet of paper.
I had several wishes, but after a few minutes of looking at an empty page, something suddenly came to me: “To be free, always.” That would be the best birthday gift I could ever wish for. Nothing could top that. How fantastic would that be?
At that moment, I was thinking about being free from school obligations, deciding for myself what and how I wanted to learn, and especially, with whom, when, where. What I couldn’t realise back then was that this feeling stemmed from a deeper desire to be free from the idea of having to “do” something in life—living up to someone else’s expectations or those of society.
I can still recall the feeling of that little boy sitting at his desk. Only now do I understand that being free from work, school, or anything else doesn’t bring that deeper sense of freedom. The key to true freedom has always been in my own hands—not by escaping or changing the external world, but by letting go of my identification with it. I now realise that the mere thought of a school day with a teacher I didn’t like made me feel more anxious than the actual experience of the day itself.
In moments when I manage not to let my identity depend on my role in a specific context, I experience the same blissful feeling as that little boy did almost 40 years ago. I’m now aware that the key to “Always be free” is, to detach myself from the identification with a specific, or actually any situation. It is prioritising my inner world over the external one, not letting my happiness and peace depend on what is happening outside me and by the roles I play in life.
The feeling of freedom is always available. In fact, it’s the most natural state for us as human beings. It is a place where you feel your heart opening up, your mind becoming quiet and a deepening of acceptance of life as it is. The door to this feeling is always open; all you have to do is take the step.
Certain experiences in life sometimes make us think we’re facing a closed door again. I tend to identify with these experiences when I’m not feeling well, haven’t slept properly, or have a lot on my mind. Precisely then, it’s important to tap back into and activate that feeling of freedom within yourself. And when you do, you’ll see that, just like a child can be overjoyed with the number one present on a wish list, you will receive a present more beautiful than you could have ever imagined.