Four Steps To Freedom

1. Don’t Take Anything Personally
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Nothing anybody says or does to you has anything to do with you. Each person’s opinion is solely the product of their own life and reality.

It’s hard to imagine this. It’s easier to get offended or angry or to internalize and believe what others may say. Rather than getting consumed by it, obsessed over it, and letting it affect you, let it go.

This is also true when someone is offering you advice. Have you ever shared your finest dream? The responses might be all over the place. One person may say, “Good luck with that, maybe you should come back to earth” while another may be very positive, “Yes. Go for it.”

Does that mean the first person doesn’t believe in you? No. It means that person cannot see your dreams as you see them.

When someone says something to you, whether it’s an insult, a piece of advice, or anything at all, connect back to your awareness. Only you can know what’s true or not.

By taking another person’s opinion of you to heart and choosing to believe it, you’re doing yourself an injustice.


2. Don't Be a Victim

It's easy to think the world is against you.

Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? It happens. There’re things in our control and not in our control. You can’t control the world around you, but you can control how you react to things. Don’t fall into the trap of the downward spiral of victim.

Embrace each and every thing that happens as an opportunity. When something negative happens ask, “What can I learn from this?”

Accept situations as opportunities, and remember there’s a lesson in each. Look for the lesson rather than getting stuck in the victim mode.


3. Be Gentle, Kind, And Compassionate With Yourself

Have an awareness of your thoughts. Acknowledge what you say about yourself.

Are your thoughts kind? Are you kind to yourself. Are you your own worst critic?

When you look into the mirror, what do you see?

Remember you deserve your kindness as much as everyone else.

Work on shifting your thoughts to ones that are more compassionate and kind. Every time you think something negative about yourself, replace it with a positive.

Eventually you’ll see these positive thoughts are true.

Practicing this way allows you the freedom to be you.


4. Practice Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a powerful word, a mysterious word.

Forgiveness is the practice and art of letting go of the hope that the past can be changed.

Forgiveness isn’t about saying whatever happened was okay, right, or just. It‘s about letting it go.

Forgiving is releasing the power that a certain event has on you. By not forgiving you are keeping your mind in the past, thinking and wishing that things could have been different.

This traps you and may lead you to act in negative ways.

Forgiveness puts you back into the present—the only time that truly exists—where you have the power to live free and happy.

Next time you feel stuck, turn your awareness within. What do your thoughts look like?

Allow your mind to understand you.