Updated July 24, 2021 791 Author: Dmitry Petrov
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. What is freedom? Everyone understands it differently. For some, this is the absence of physical limitations, while others mean by this concept the ability to express their opinions.
A teenager dreams of freedom as independence from his parents, and an adult sees it as the unhindered implementation of his activities.
One thing is clear: freedom is a certain value, something that is very important and necessary for an individual.
Let's consider the interpretation of this term from legal, philosophical and psychological points of view.
What is personal freedom
Personal freedom is a complex, multifaceted concept, which is very difficult to define unambiguously. To simplify it as much as possible, personal freedom is the absence of dependence on anything: other people, bad habits, psychological complexes, public opinion, etc.
A free person is confident in himself, knows what he wants from life, and acts based on his interests. This helps him achieve success in life and occupy a high place in the social hierarchy.
The concept of freedom has changed over the centuries. Humanity has come to modern understanding quite recently. Around the beginning of the 19th century, people began to perceive freedom as their inviolable right and began to actively defend it. Freedom began to mean following one’s aspirations, realizing the inner potential of the individual, and making an independent choice of a personal path.
It is very important to understand that freedom is not absolute. One person's freedom ends where another person's freedom begins. This is a very subtle philosophical question. Before you start working on developing inner freedom, you need to form the moral and ethical core of your personality. Without it, freedom can turn into arbitrariness and lead to antisocial behavior.
Practical recommendations
Following simple but effective tips will help you gain inner freedom and self-confidence.
Understand what's stopping you from being free
This must be done at the very beginning of the path to internal liberation. There are 7 factors that make a person dependent:
- fear, self-doubt, complexes;
- public opinion, stereotypes;
- dependence on money;
- inability to make choices independently.
Once you determine the reason for the lack of freedom, act decisively. Eliminate the listed factors one by one.
Conquer your internal barriers
These include all the same fears and complexes. This is usually a consequence of past failures. It also happens that parents, having failed in some business, unknowingly program their children for it. This is the first and most important barrier.
Be sincere to yourself
There are people around who know how to live your life. Do not rush to show a rebellious spirit and contradict them. Calmly listen to their opinion, but act as you see fit.
Remember, each person has his own life. And everyone is free to manage it in their own way.
But there is one thing. Before you learn to defend your opinion, you need to find it. Sincerely tell yourself what you think about this or that matter, decide on your desires and goals. Become an individual. This is a direct path to personal freedom.
Learn to make your own decisions
The lack of this skill makes people dependent. But why are they so afraid of independence? There are 2 reasons:
- Ignorance. The person does not know what to do next, is not sure of the correctness of the decisions made, and is afraid of the consequences. Changing the situation is easy. Explore the world around you. We are not talking about biology, botany and other sciences here. Get information about your rights and options. Make time for self-development.
- Lack of practice. How can you become independent and free if you don't practice making decisions? Of course, no one is protected from failures and mistakes. But inaction will not give you freedom. So don't be afraid to make your own choices. Take risks.
The main thing in the matter of independence is to want to change. If there is no such desire, there will be no progress either.
Free yourself from material dependence
Money provides many opportunities and a certain freedom of action. But if they are used incorrectly, they take a person into slavery. That is why financial well-being cannot be made the goal of your entire life.
There is no need to become a hermit. It's better to reconsider your attitude towards work. If possible, do something that generates income and at the same time gives positive emotions. This is personal freedom.
Constantly try new things
This advice can be rephrased: free your mind from the shackles that hold it back. Personal freedom implies the absence of restrictions and stereotypes. Their presence is called slavery. It's easy to get rid of. Open yourself to new sensations, knowledge, emotions. Try new activities, learn foreign languages, meet interesting people. In no time, you will feel unprecedented freedom. Traveling will also help you free yourself. Take time to visit new places. You don't have to go to another continent. You can go to a neighboring city this coming weekend or even explore unexplored corners of your own.
Read
Particular attention should be paid to the biographies of famous people who managed to become independent. Their example will be a motivation, an incentive to develop and move forward. The result is personal freedom, good mood, self-confidence.
Learn to manage your own life
Otherwise someone else will do it. A person who constantly doubts himself easily becomes a victim of manipulators. Therefore, take responsibility for yourself. Don't be led by others. Don't do anything you don't like. Learn to live according to your desires and views.
Surround yourself with worthy people
It is important that there are those around whom you want to imitate. Life is a kind of role-playing game. And, most likely, there is a character in it that you want to be like. There is no need to mindlessly copy his behavior and actions. This is already a certain amount of slavery. Learn from the examples of successful people about determination, perseverance and independence.
Never compare yourself to others. On the one hand, competition encourages you to become better. On the other hand, it is often the cause of depression and self-doubt.
Give yourself permission to act impulsively
Remember, you don’t have to live according to a set schedule. The day is not just oatmeal and coffee with milk for breakfast, work and a light dinner. First of all, these are new emotions. Do you want a Mojito and seafood for dinner today? Why not allow yourself such a deviation from the rules? Or maybe you want to add a little pop of color to your casual office attire? Take action!
The absence of monotony in life equals personal freedom.
Why is it necessary to develop personal freedom?
Does an individual really need personal freedom? Maybe it’s better to live your normal life without aiming at such global goals? Each person makes his own choice. The main thing is that it is conscious.
Freedom is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. It is inextricably linked with responsibility and self-restraint.
Yes, you heard right, precisely with self-restraint. Freedom does not give you the right to do whatever you want. It will help you become the center of your own life and begin to act based on your interests. But in return, you will have to give up someone else's guardianship over you and become a truly adult.
So, what will inner freedom give you:
- You will be able to make decisions without regard to the opinions of others.
- Other people's criticism will not make you nervous or upset.
- You will stop being a slave to your negative emotions, complexes, and fears.
- People will begin to respect your interests and you will be able to interact with them effectively.
- You will feel like a real creator of your own life, and not a log obediently floating with the flow.
- Your talents and abilities will be able to be realized 100%, because no internal restrictions will interfere with them.
- And most importantly, your life will be full of happiness and harmony, which you can share with loved ones.
How to become truly free
The most interesting thing is that in moments like these, no material wealth, no millions of millions can compare, much less replace, this feeling of freedom and unity with the world around you, which is both inside and around you. This is probably why people go to the mountains again and again and conquer more and more peaks.
However, in order to gain the experience of true spiritual freedom, in many cases it is not at all necessary to engage in sport mountaineering. It is enough just to realize your mission on earth and clearly follow the instructions of your own conscience.
At the same time, the closer you are to realizing your life goal, the more provision you will receive with the necessary resources to achieve it. Thanks to the action of this law, almost any life issues are resolved, what is called by default.
This reminds me of a situation when a foreign intelligence agent is dropped behind enemy lines with a previously prepared legend for him. It is enough for such an intelligence officer to get used to his image and strictly carry out the tasks of his leadership in order to justify the trust and benefit the Motherland. At the same time, all issues of material and financial support are resolved in the accompanying mode within the framework of its legend.
Still from the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring”
From this point of view, it turns out that if I manage to determine and then begin to fulfill my spiritual mission on earth, then any issues of a material nature that are so important for the life of my physical body will be resolved in the background automatically.
That is why it is especially important to understand and realize that the primary thing in any area of a person’s life, including in the area of personal freedom, is his spirituality. If it becomes dominant, then everything else will gradually follow in due time.
If we take into account that external freedom is associated with a person’s bodily beginning, and true or spiritual freedom is directly related to his soul, then in order to develop and improve internal independence, you only need to devote more time to your sensory experiences.
Indeed, in any unforeseen situation, we are more inclined to trust our spontaneous feelings than sober and cold calculations. As a rule, our usual reactions to external stimuli are of a habitual nature at the level of unconditioned reflexes.
Passengers travel on a bus during rush hour
But as soon as you look at the same situation from different angles, a suitable alternative immediately arises for the successful resolution of the conflict. I think that today there is not a person who, during rush hour, has not stepped on his foot in an overloaded transport at least once in his life.
As soon as this happens, the injured party has a choice: consider themselves a victim and throw a huge scandal (take the side of the material principle) or use this situation as an occasion to get acquainted and develop further relations with their offender (find themselves in the position of an observer from the spiritual principle).
Some will say that it will take a lot of time to think about and make the right decision, which is clearly not enough to give an adequate answer. But practice shows that in such cases time ceases to be linear and goes into a different format (actually freezes), so even two seconds is enough to make and implement your decision.
It is clear that the first attempts will be rather inept and ineffective. But in this matter, as in any sport, you need constant dexterity, hardening, and training to achieve high performance.
Therefore, with each new attempt, the spiritual muscles will become stronger, firmer and more elastic and will allow the practitioner to achieve the desired goal in the shortest possible time.
Types of human responsibility
Responsibility is a sociological and philosophical category. It also has several approaches to definition. It is considered as a conscious activity, the possibility of self-regulation, and an indicator of the social maturity of the individual. Also interpreted as a type of interaction, social connections between people.
Responsibility is classified according to several criteria:
- Number of subjects:
- Individual (personal, private)
- Group
- Collective
- Direction:
- Political, related to laws, political foundations and norms.
- Moral is predetermined by the categories of good and evil.
- Legal is established by law.
- Social is a reflection of people's expectations about the proper behavior of individuals.
Scientific approach
From the perspective of the scientific approach, freedom and necessity in human activity are closely interrelated. Freedom is defined as a perceived necessity. A person is not able to influence the objective conditions of his activity, but he can choose the goal and means of achieving it. Thus, freedom in human activity is the opportunity to make an informed choice. That is, make one decision or another.
Freedom and necessity in human activity cannot exist without each other. In our life, freedom manifests itself as constant freedom of choice, while necessity is present as objective circumstances in which a person is forced to act.
Connection with progress
In ancient times, people had fairly limited freedom. The need for human activity was not always realized. People depended on nature, the secrets of which the human mind could not comprehend. There was a so-called unknown necessity. Man was not free, he remained a slave for a long time, blindly obeying the laws of nature.
As science developed, people found answers to many questions. Phenomena that were previously divine for humans received a logical explanation. People's actions became meaningful, and cause-and-effect relationships made it possible to realize the need for certain actions. The higher the progress of society, the freer a person becomes in it. In the modern world in developed countries, the limit of individual freedom is only the rights of other people.
