Today in this country we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, a man who stood for Freedom and Courage in an unforgettable way. These are words that resonate through my thoughts often. As a woman, as a citizen, as a mother, as a professional, I often find myself realizing the incredible value of the Freedom I have in my day to day life.
There was a time in my life, for many years, when it did not feel like I had Freedom. I was committed to a relationship in which I was only half alive. The longer the relationship wore on, the less alive I felt. I compromised my joy, I compromised my peace, I compromised my safety – all in the name of a commitment I had made in my mind and my heart to stand by someone for better or worse, in sickness and in health, etc, etc.
It took Courage to get up out of bed some days. It took courage to face my children, face my job, face myself in the mirror, where I pretended I was happy enough, in order to survive. Finally, after many years, when I almost lost my life at the hands of that person, I found Courage like I had never known before, and left the life I had created for myself to start all over again, children in tow.
Freedom means more to me now than it did before. I didn’t realize before that the truest Freedom is within me. I understand now that I have the Freedom to choose.
Martin Luther King understood this. Nelson Mandela understood this. Victor Frankel, author of the historic book Man’s Search for Meaning, written while surviving in an Nazi concentration camp, understood this. And now, I understand this. I am Free to make choices in every moment. At the very least, and at the core of it all, I have the Freedom to choose how I think, and therein how I feel.
I lose track of this Freedom at times. I get caught up in circumstances. I can get caught up in emotion. I sometimes forget that in every instant I have the Freedom and the ability to stop the noise in my head and Choose the conversation I have with myself and with the world.
This is not always an easy task. It takes Courage. It takes Courage to recognize that you are sliding downhill into a pit with your own help. It takes Courage to silently yell STOP to your own thoughts. But you have it. I have it. You have the Courage to make those choices sometimes. I know that sometimes it is flat out hard. But when you make the choice to corral your thoughts, so that they work you and not against you, you get the greatest prize of all: you are Free to make different choices.
Celebrate your Freedom and your Courage today, whatever they may look like. Recognize that within you lies the greatest power you can ever own. You have Choice.
With love, peace, and joy on this day,
Kathryn