What is denying you of your freedom? Let’s explore.
Our addictions – yes, we are addicted to our emotions, just like someone may be addicted to substances. Just like a susbstance addict is not free, we are not free either. We are always creating attachments to create a certain feeling – chasing material wealth, experiences, finding love, etc.
It’s a known fact that substance abuse happens due to feelings of disconnection. Similarly, addiction to our emotions happens due to disconnection – from our true selves and our universe. Just as it is important to have healthy role models who teach us to connect with our surroundings, similarly, it is important to have role models who can show us how to stay connected with ourselves. We don’t have people around us who embody this connection and freedom and who can show us what it means to be living this way. Today we value achievements over being. How can we chase and be available in the present moment to connect and be free of the past and the future? And, without such role models to guide our way, we assume such a life where we are not chasing to create feelings would be dull and meaningless. We believe that if we are not chasing a feeling, we will experience a negative void that we confuse with apathy and indifference. Apathy and indifference may result from our inability to successfully deal with painful emotions either suddenly or gradually, mostly gradually. They should not be confused with the contentment of being in freedom.
And it doesn’t happen often that we get a taste of that freedom on our own. But yet, we are not helpless! We can learn from our experiences of fleeting moments of freedom. We can take these moments to learn profound truths about our being by contemplating such experiences to find out what within us led to these feelings. And resisting the urge to get attached to the people or conditions outside of us that were present when we felt those feelings and trying to recreate them. And once you taste that freedom, you will find a new way of being and your life becomes about falling into that sweet spot of being.