‘There are two freedoms- the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.’
~Charles Kingsley
Inhibitions can be a good thing. I refrain from sunbathing at the local pool in the nude, a fact for which we should all be grateful. I do not speak every critical and unkind thing that crosses my mind. I choose what I reveal about my husband and children in my writing because believe me, some things are better left unwritten.
I’m free to do all of these things, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I am right to do them. Freedom isn’t a license to hate or be selfish. It isn’t an excuse for hoarding or gossiping or being unfaithful. Freedom is knowing that your life isn’t restrained by boundaries, but that it is kept safe by them.
One of the most challenging aspects to finding freedom is discovering that safe place. The place where you are free to run as far and as wide as you please within the playing field, or where your brushstrokes and genius are only constrained by the size of the canvas.
I confess to failing at this too often. How about you? What are your healthy boundaries? Do you have unhealthy ones too?
