Freedom in vulnerability
If you’re anything like me, your thought process, when it comes to freedom, will probably verge on “it’s not real… we’re never really free”.
More often than not, we can find ourselves feeling that we are not free in our Faith, in our relationship with God. We can feel that we’ve been raised like this and have not yet made it our own. This lack of freedom then feeds into all other human freedoms.
Are we ever truly 100% free to do whatever we want?
For everything we say yes to, we have said no to something else if not a lot more things.
Not being free to express yourself is not a lack of freedom, generally it’s a fear perhaps of the comments, judgements, expectations and acceptance.
I’m going to outline a few areas in which I have found from experience the ease to understand and love the reality of freedom and what that it means for each one of us both humanly and spiritually.
Be Vulnerable
At this point in time, in a Netflix-thriving universe, it might have been hard for you to not have heard of the famous Brené Brown, a fantastic college professor who went viral overnight because of a TedTalk she presented on vulnerability.
This, as it did to many, spoke to my soul. The epitome of human connection and the pinnacle of being a good person to yourself and then to others lies in being vulnerable. It’s true.
To be at one with your anxiety and let the risk of the worst case scenario happen releases you from those safety blankets that conceal your freedom and rather let’s you grow and experience outside of the known and the comfort.
Brown talks about how in order to connect with others and to be truly free in ourselves, we have got to let ourselves be vulnerable. If we do not let ourselves be vulnerable, we are exposed to the risk of being anxious, controlling and a little bit of a perfectionist. Each of these holds absolutely no resonance to freedom.
Vulnerability in Prayer
Being vulnerable in our prayer is a stepping stone to being vulnerable in our daily lives and with the people we love.
God knows it all, but he gives us that freedom of choice as to whether or not we want to open all of that up to Him. By doing so, we are acknowledging, reflecting and therefore getting to know ourselves better whilst also deepening our relationship with Him.
That freedom is vital for our perseverance in our Faith. It’s what we already know: for any relationship to blossom, we have to be OK with ourselves, we have to love ourselves before we can love someone else. That is freedom, a freedom that needs guidance, needs time, needs reflection and needs complete love of self in order to be fruitful and solid.
Acceptance
In order to accept ourselves and our faults, we have to be in a place of respect. We have to accept others and their faults and we have to accept the limitations that we have as humans.
In our Faith, accepting who we are is one of the biggest elements. It originates from Adam and Eve. We have accepted that we are not perfect. We should accept that that doesn’t make us any less of a human than anyone else. This equality in the human race that we all share is overshadowed by the superficial ‘freedoms’ that we think we don’t have.
When we’ve accepted ourselves and our purpose deeply, and find the meaning of living a true and healthy lifestyle, that’s when we are most free.
wILLINGNESS TO CHANGE
Finding understanding in the concept of freedom is massively overwhelming on a human/world level. It’s probably pretty much impossible for us to do. We have been left with only our own vessels to find out what this freedom means for us, how we understand it, how we maintain it, even if it requires a little bit of change.
This is when it’s worth knowing that you have an amazing relationship with God. You are finding freedom in figuring these things out and you are understanding what freedom really is not just for you, but for people. With this openness in your prayer, in your reflection, in your life, will come a willingness to change. It takes time. It’s not something that’s easy to do, but it’s attractive for me to be able to understand me, to understand and empathise with others, for someone I love. THAT is worth understanding and changing for.
sTARTING AGAIN
So these great revelations take a lot of time, experience and heartache. It’s never easy to seek out the good, to understand ourselves, others, our faith.
By being open to starting over we have to learn to let go and find that peace that we deserve, that will aid in our relationships with others and our attitude to ourselves. It’s a freedom that is one of the hardest ones to maintain. We naturally see our faults more than we see our strengths.
Obviously, starting over, learning to let go and finding peace is the definition of freedom. Confession is a means to making this a lot easier for us. We can have truth, complete interior freedom and forgiveness from it. But in order to grow freely, love fully, trust entirely, heal wholly, forgive, thrive and move on, we need to find that peace that is buried deep down in the abyss of self-deprecation, grudges, holding onto our faults, and resentments.
Where Freedom Lies
It seems to lie in the fact that it’s not true. Doing what we want is not freedom. Freedom lies in being content and happy. Freedom lies in knowing ourselves (strengths and weaknesses) and accepting them. Freedom lies in a willingness to change for the good. Freedom lies in being willing to find peace. Above all, freedom lies in choosing to reflect and learn from experience.