How To Find Psychological Freedom
So You Can Find The Meaning Of Your Life
“Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man; if they existed, his life would only dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is.”
Turn on the Television and the popular discussion around the world is about political freedom. Arrests of journalists, stifling of public gatherings are a constant reminder that our political freedom is not at all guaranteed.
However, there’s another form of freedom we choose to ignore because of our unwillingness to look into the mirror: Our psychological freedom.
Psychological freedom comes about when we look inside ourselves, recognize our weaknesses, and begin to make incremental amends to take charge of our lives.
You’re unlikely to hear about psychological freedom in our popular discourse. Discussing psychological freedom would mean a shift of the debate from the ruling elite to individuals.
Talking about individual and our self-destructive behaviors opens up the discussion about personal responsibility. Compared to the flaws of the politicians, personal responsibility does not attract as much hype. A life of personal improvement is difficult.
Yet, the only way to regain control of our lives is when we swim against the current and practice life-affirming experiences which bring about personal growth.
The Meaning Of Our Lives
A life of personal growth entails the pursuit of that which brings meaning to our lives. From a very young age, and at a very subconscious level we’re aware of the inevitability of suffering and our eventual death; putting us in a very unique position in the animal kingdom.
Horses and sheep have no idea they’re going to die. They live by instinct. For us, however, the knowledge of life’s hardships and death brings us head-on with the question of meaning. We’ve told ourselves stories to be able to make sense of the world we live in.
The existence of another reality, another world, has been the most prominent of the stories we have told. The possibility of another world after our demise has been sufficient to justify our suffering on this earth.
But we are confronted with yet another question: What is the meaning of the afterlife?
Then we’re back to the question of meaning once again.
Some people know from a very young age what is their purpose in the universe. They discover their calling and spend all their life perfecting it. This is not so for the vast majority of people who wander in a sea of meaninglessness. The life they live is not theirs. Somewhere along the line, they may be hit with the epiphany of a wasted existence. They realize that change to a more meaningful life is cardinal.
The Paradox Of Freedom
The discourse of political freedom must be supported. Events around the world attest to the fragility of democracy.
What isn’t explained to us is that freedom, whether political or psychological, comes with the burden of personal responsibility.
It wasn’t explained to African leaders after they attained independence that going forward, the running of the affairs was on us; for good or bad.
The same can be said about psychological freedom. Once you break away from the herd, once you find your true calling, the implication is a life of discipline and responsibility.
The paradox is that a life of personal responsibility can be as tough as a life of psychological bondage. Perhaps Malinowski Bronislaw expressed this concept better when he wrote:
“…Freedom in its essence is the acceptance of chains which suit you and for which you are suited, and of the harness in which you pull towards and end valued by yourself, and not imposed. It is not, and never can be, the absence of restrictions, obligations and of duty.”
Final Thoughts
Most countries today have attained political freedom. This says nothing about the freedom of individuals. The ills we see with the political elites are a symptom of the psychological bondage of individuals. Psychological freedom does not entail a life of bliss and neglect of duty. It is a form of bondage with the difference that you would have been the author of the chains that afflict you.
It is the business of the very few to be independent, writes Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil “ It is a privilege of the strong. And whoever attempts it, even with the best right, but without being OBLIGED to do so, proves that he is probably not only strong, but also daring beyond measure. He enters into a labyrinth, he multiplies a thousandfold the dangers which life in itself already brings with; not the least of which is that no one can see how and where he loses his way, becomes isolated, and is torn piecemeal by some minotaur of conscience.”
