Personal Freedom does not mean the release of responsibility, it also does not necessarily mean the absence of struggle. Some might hope that “freedom” means we can give up or release responsibilities from our lives, but nothing could be further from the truth. The thinking goes, “If I am free, shouldn’t I be free from all responsibilities?”

We must be conscious and responsible for our beliefs and behaviours if we are ever to be free.

Avoidance may be the best short-term strategy to avoid pain and conflict, but it is also the best long-term strategy to ensure suffering.

In any given moment we can play a combination of vital roles:

• Observer - the default viewer
• Director - us in control
• Guardian - to our mind, body & soul. Protect what we eat, what we listen, what we read etc ...
• Warrior - fight for something we believe in
• Lover - who are we fighting for?
• Leader - provide vision & discipline to others so they can achieve their dreams

No matter the role we should never detach from our daily lives. We must choose to live in reality.

1. On one hand we are becoming slaves to our own tools, especially our mobile phones. We must understand that our time can be spent meaningfully or wasted. But in order to spend it mindfully we need to clarify our needs & desires. 
2. On the other, we are under the pressure of social obligations. We have to reply artfully & forcefully to those who are always demanding of our time. We can not subordinate our agenda to those whose lives are not in order.

Only then we can live a purposeful life and be free. If you want to live a life of purpose you need to be spending your time on your own adventure. 

The demands of the whimsically needy or the terminally ill-prepared are not our issue. Their lives are NOT our responsibility. This idea is freeing:

I am not in charge or responsible for the wrecks others have created in their lives and I don't need to save everyone in my life.

We all host a 3 serpent head demon which makes us miserable:

1. Doubt -  questions our worth & course of action. 
2. Delay - use our fear to stop us from doing anything
3. Division - we feel everyone around us is an idiot or unworthy of trust.

We are able to beat the demon back with

1. Faith - “I believe in my ability to learn & figure things out.”
2. Action - "I will move fwd in spite of my fear"
3. Love ❤️  - "We are all made of the same purity, all fighting our own demons" 

We must believe that we can bend reality to our own preferences, crafting the lives we desire through disciplined learning. And we must ACT.

The issue is we have been conditioned to believe the opposite. Instead of bold action we have to be cautious and follow the rules. Instead of ambition we are thought to ask for permission. Instead of being proud about our success, be ashamed of it.

These assumptions come from an unenlightened mind blinded by scarcity and jealousy. However, progress is good. And we should be proud of our success. 

A great tidal wave of cynicism & pessimism has washed ashore and drowned the dreams of our people. The emotional energy of the world is flatlining. We risk turning into a culture of slow-moving, low-aiming, negativity-spewing brats and blamers.

We will swim away from whirlpool of negativity & rekindle the magic of life. We will act like happy children again & again:

• Be curious.
• Release expectation.
• Take pleasure in small things and expect good things.
• Cheerfully engage the moment.

Let this become our practice, our mastery, and our art.

In our darkest hours we compromise on who we are, what we believe in and we act against what we know to be true. Most of these breaks are small in scale but they compound. 

We should commit to the 6 practices of integrity:

1. Think before we act
2. Never commit to anything we lack passion for
3. Keep our word
4. Always treat others with respect
5. Tell the truth
6. Always favour action

These emotions are usually when we compromise: impatience, disappointment, desperation, aggression, hurt, loyalty & power. 

Love is our origin & our final destination. But we stop giving it or receiving it because we were hurt & we don't feel safe doing it.

Hurt has nothing to do with love, and love is unaffiliated with and unaffected by pain. 

We no doubt live in a noisy, numb, narcissistic age. The talents and attentions of the majority are not invested in personal mastery and social responsibility but squandered on games, voyeurism, and base sensationalism.

As leaders, we will ask for more from those around us. Let us demand:

1. Honesty
2. Responsibility
3. Intelligence
4. Excellence - strive for the highest level in everything
5. Courage 
6. Respect for others - fairness, empathy, love
7. Vigilance - "Know what stands in our way"
8. Service - "Make a difference"
9. Unity - "We are in this together"

We are not supposed to miss this moment. Awareness is humanity’s best weapon against time. So let us always remember our capacities to be gifted time benders.

To slow down the moment, we must heighten our senses. To feel something more, we must either take more in, or more deeply sense that which is already here.

• Touch more things around us. Feel the textures.
• We should love the sounds in our ears: the car driving by; the house finch trilling in the birch tree; the beautiful, unique voice speaking to us.
• Appreciate the food
• Look at things like for the first time
• etc ...

We can train our awareness with a practice called 2 (heart) beats longer:

Do not breathe so quickly. Take in air for two beats longer. Do not scan the room. Sense the room by gazing into each shadow and corner for two beats longer. Do not merely glance at her. Look into her eyes and hold them for two beats longer.

In time the practice becomes stronger and, over time, more automatic. This is how you slow down time.