It’s tragic how few of us are actually liberated. To know you were meant for and are capable of more is its own kind of bondage. It’s a life in denial. To know who you are or at least have a sense of who you are, yet live beneath it, is a slow kind of death.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou.

Have you ever stopped to take a long deep breath? I mean the kind that finds its way to the soles of your feet. Isn’t it liberating? There’s so much truth that emits from that simple act. I am convinced that our lives were meant for that kind of liberty and boundlessness. You and I, were not designed to be stuck in a cycle of perpetual mediocrity, knowing there’s a better and richer story to be told. Yet, somehow we trap ourselves. Somehow we delude ourselves into believing in the falsehood of security, which is really fear. It’s completely understandable until you find the very thing that was to secure you is suffocating the very life out of you. There’s literally a biological reaction to living in such a state. How else do you think Lie Detector machines work?

There’s a kind of energy that radiates from the countenance of the liberated. I have a friend I’ve known for over two decades now. We studied music together, until she decided to pursue security in the field of education. We both knew that wasn’t what she wanted. She loved music. She radiated when she sang. There was joy that illuminated her entire being. Her very posture naturally aligned. Education gave her a home and a steady means of income, yet that radiance was severely dimmed. There was no authentic joy. Even her beautiful and healthy children could not fill that void. There seemed to be a cloud that hung over her. She’s a lovely woman, but for so many years there was no light in her eyes. She seemed to drag. After nearly 20 years, she broke free and returned to her first love. To see her now, even to hear her speak is to know someone who is truly alive again.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

St. John 10:10

Aren’t you tired of being robbed? Aren’t you tired of allowing yourself to be held captive and destroyed daily knowing you were made for more? Even more tragic is the longer you withhold your story you hinder the story of others. This is what it means for you to have life…more abundantly…” What you do, how you live resonates! We are an ecosystem in every conceivable way. The world is round! Your liberty matters! Think of all of the liberation movements throughout history that inspired freedom for others? The Haitian Revolution is often cited for inspiring slave revolts throughout the United States and the Americas. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. often credited Mahatma Gandhi for inspiring his non-violent movement. This is how true evolution works. Our lives are to provide a blue print for the generation hereafter. Why not grant them our utmost? Living in liberty is not merely a matter of our own personal gain, but a legacy that is to inspire and be shared by others.

Set aside the chains of fear and the shackles of doubt masquerading as security. There is no security save for the truth. The truth of who you are and what you are, are in fact your keys to a life of liberty.

Happy Independence Day!