Growing up, my idea of freedom was doing what I felt was right. That was my moral compass for a while and as you can imagine, it got me stuck in some hard situations that I regretted later.

I have since learnt that freedom is not about doing what you feel like. That is the road that leads to addiction and slavery. The more you do what you feel like, the more you become a slave to it.

Stop and think. Who is your master?

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?”

Read the Apostle Paul’s discussion on freedom and slavery in Chapter 6:15-23  of his Letter to the Romans‬‬

Money, power, pleasure, success, religion, even our selfish way of thinking or ego, etc. These are false gods that don’t satisfy your deepest hunger for meaning and significance but drown you deeper in the pit of hopelessness, addiction and mental slavery.

The first step to freedom is taking back control.

This is something that only you can do for yourself. No mysterious power is going to take control of your mind and body and make you change. Only you can do that!

Practising self-discipline and taking ownership of yourself, your actions (and inactions) and their consequences. This is the first step towards real freedom.

Start with small steps, small daily increments that will have a compounding effect on your life.

Freedom is not about having more and more of everything, more possessions, more power or more pleasure. In fact, the opposite is true.

Real freedom is slavery, obedience to a purpose or calling higher than yourself.

“…there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship…”

David Foster Wallace in This is Water!

Whose slave are you?

Here is a great podcast from two of the greatest teachers of our time who know what they are talking about, Jocko Willink and Jordon B. Peterson on Facing Your Inner Darkness.