Whenever I find myself in situations I think I didn’t really chose, I like to remind myself I can remain free. After all, if I don’t make my choices, don’t I condemn myself to have them made by someone else?
The freedom manifesto is here to accept my circumstances, to see them from a different angle…
1- There is no such thing as “bad decision”; only moves in life. Understanding why I made them is the key to prevent myself for labeling a decision as “bad”.
2- I shall not blame someone else for something I did. I’m fully responsible for my life, and how I experience it, throughout the choices I make. Before blaming someone else, I shall sit and ask myself why I think such thing.
3- I make my own decisions, live the life I want. If I don’t make them, I give someone else the permission to do it; as I take responsibility for the consequences. I shall not blame someone else.
4- I cannot “revert” nor should I seek a previous slide of my life. Everything flows and looking back in the past refrains me from living in the present, preparing my future. By wishing to bring back something, I accept to live in the past, thus missing the present or the future.
5- I may be accountable only to myself, by that does not mean my action don’t have an impact upon someone else life. It is my responsibility to understand my link to others, and avoid unnecessary suffering.
6- I have the power to educate myself, and learn more. Treasures are not hidden in materialistic possessions, only in words and knowledge. If I don’t learn, I give myself the permission to make choices I might be unpleased with.
7- Nothing last: my finances, my relationships, my belongings. Life is a matter of movements and recycling. I shall accept that I cannot hold things forever. If I don’t let go, I accept to bring upon myself unnecessary suffering.
8- I can transfer my liberty to something or someone else – faith, values, society; but by doing so, I accept to remove my hands from my steering wheel. There is no such thing as “it says”.
9- My “life” isn’t something I’m waiting to be pleasant or “fixed”. Daily actions override futile hope. Each day is another gift to experience life differently.
10- I shall not expect someone else to behave the way I’d like. Because each time I wish that, I refuse to take responsibility, and become blind to all the moves I can make with my own personal life.
Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices.
Jean-Paul Sartre