What Is Freedom?

As this nation celebrated Independence Day and as people gave thanks for living in a "free" country, I asked myself "What does it mean to be free?" And that is the question I pose to all of you....What does freedom mean to you?

For fun, I looked up freedom in the dictionary. One of the definitions read " the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action" and "the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination"

We live in a time when there are so many opportunities out there for all of us. To me, freedom is a lot of different things. It's the ability to pursue an education or a career. It's the ability to get in the car or on a plane to go visit family and friends. It's the ability to worship how I want. I really like how the one definition says that with freedom we can make decision without constraint "from within or without". It never occurred to me that I can restrict my own freedom by that which is "within" me. My thoughts can restrict my freedoms. I think freedom is much more than what we think.

I really enjoyed this little clip on Freedom and hearing people from all over the world talking about what freedom is to them.