Freedom as the ultimate duty

Duty may be defined as an obligation or moral commitment which one is expected to perform. This is different from responsibility which may refer to that which you are required to assume or accept as part of your job or position. As such, freedom means you are free to be yourself (choice) and to do something (action) without coercion or constraint.?

Perfect freedom

While in high school 20+ years ago, I came across a profound quote that has greatly influenced my life and career, “Perfect freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his own work and in that work does what he wants to do.” - Robin G. Collingwood. Since then, I have always strived to find this perfect freedom in my private and public life as I seek to make a difference in my personal, family, and community life while seeking to impact one life and one mind at a time.

Educated mind

One quality of an educated mind is the ability to nurture and empower those around them, when we recognize none of us ever acts alone. The Ubuntu spirit best exemplifies this, “I am, because you are”. It is about our humanity and connectedness, where our own wellbeing is deeply tied to the wellbeing of others.

Education for freedom means, “the freedom of the individual is only possible in a free community, and vice versa as well. It is the community that empowers the free individual, just as it is free individuals who lead and empower the community.” Most of us are free today because the community empowered us. It now our duty to go back and empower the community. This is possible when we let our personal triumphs become the achievements of our common humanity.

Fundamental human rights and freedoms

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state; everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

The education we have received should be directed towards full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. We all have duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of our personality is possible.

Be who you were meant to be

Each one of us is born with an inherent potential. It is our duty to ensure that we are able to achieve our full potential and become who we were meant to be so that we can change the world for the better. As we become self-actualized, we will need space for freedom and privacy where we can test our potential, both mentally (i.e., thinking about our problems) and physically (i.e., acting out to identify our strengths and weaknesses).

To become who we were meant to be, we will need to transform ourselves from caterpillar to become a butterfly. We will also need to learn to soar like the eagles instead of scratching on the ground looking for ants and worms like the chicken. Getting our spirituality right is also indispensable, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” - Isaiah 40:31. ?

Finding freedom in your work

Apart from our personal, community, and spiritual life, we can also find freedom in our professional life, especially when we find our Ikigai: A sense of purpose, a reason for living which will brings us joy and inspire us to get out of bed every day.?

Source: Forbes - How To Find Your Ikigai And Transform Your Outlook On Life And Business?

We can be more productive when we can find autonomy in our work, when we are given the freedom to work in a way that suits us: Deciding the pace of our work, the order of task completion, having more control over job tasks, including the freedom to decide when and where to do our work.

Since it is the same human mind which has been educated over the centuries, we can stand on shoulders of those before us to better understand how a wise man has thought over time about duty and freedom, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants," -?attributed to Sir Isaac Newton:

1.?????“If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity.” - Albert Einstein

2.?????“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. [Inaugural Address, January 20 1961]” - John F. Kennedy

3.?????“Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.” - George Washington

4.?????“Do something everyday that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.” - Mark Twain

5.?????“I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty... This is my highest and best use as a human.” - ?Ben Stein

6.?????“From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

7.?????“May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” - Peter Marshall

8.?????“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

9.?????“Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.” – Epictetus ?

10.??“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” - Albert Einstein

May we be found doing our duty, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” - Luke 17:10.?

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