Spring Cleaning for a...Good Life

The "Good Life"

Life is good, we have freedom, we can make choices and determine the outcome for our lives. Then I ask myself “do we really?” Hmmm.....

So, this is your life….life is good, we have freedom, we can make choices and are able to determine the outcome of our lives. Then I ask myself “do we really?” How do you measure a good life? What is freedom? Do we really have choices? If so, then, where are our choices leading us? In 1851, when Sojourner Truth made her now legendary speech, “Ain’t I A Woman,” a time where women were human property and black people were not even considered human, back in that day, what would a black woman use to measure good in life, what would freedom look like for her and what choices did she have?

Born into physical, mental, spiritual, financial and emotional slavery, then taken away from her family at the tender age of about nine years old, to be given as a bonus to a person purchasing a flock of sheep. It is nothing short of a miracle that she, not only knew, that she had the right to be treated with dignity and respect, but also to be a free woman. She knew exactly what it meant to be free and what to do with that freedom. After becoming a free woman, she sued a slave owner for the return of her son, who had bought her son illegally. Fate being on her side, she won the case. She had made the deliberate choice to become and live free.

Recognizing the Dirt

Obviously in today’s world, it is illegal to shackle and/or enslave another person (that has not given you permission) in the United States, but it happens every day. These shackles come in the form of constant manipulation, deception, degradation, bullying and so many other avenues. Most often the shackles are a slow but steady application, by someone who is trying to control us. Even when the perpetrators are no longer a threat, we voluntarily keep ourselves shackled. It doesn’t matter whether we keep them on or someone else does, the shackled individual is the only person that has the ability to remove them. The “act of shackling” can be: being lied to so often, that we no longer trust our own judgement; or being bullied into accepting behaviors that are not our own, so we slowly begin to lose who we are; or deceitfully degrading us into believing we are less than, because we are not as educated or we are “low class”; or just simply by allowing ourselves to continue to be stuck in a place because of fear of the unknown. There are so many ways we keep ourselves stuck, but we do have choices.

Something to think about… Making the choice to live on purpose is to make a deliberate decision to proceed in a chosen direction, not letting our circumstances determine where we will end up. If we want to begin to take action and create a purposeful journey for our life, it is necessary to begin to think about a destination. Deciding on a destination is often the hardest part of the journey. Making decisions about our future will take a great amount of heartfelt introspection, brutal honesty and acceptance for who we have become. 

Choosing the appropriate Tools to Clean it Up

We all possess certain character traits that we were born with and/or acquired while growing into adults. Over time, we can allow the sharpness of our traits to become dull, allow the lines that separate right from wrong to blur, allow our boundaries to be redrawn by circumstances and other people. Sometimes, we can look at ourselves and not recognize the person we see. And eventually, we begin to accept it all. This may be the time when we have to re-sharpen our tools, re-establish a clear distinction between right and wrong and redraw our boundaries.

Clean and Dispose of Dirt

When we begin to explore our options, we may discover that the array of tools in our tool belt: dignity; respect; responsibility; accountability; etc., will probably lead us to ask ourselves, what is dignity and respect in today’s society? Do you expect it? How would you demand it? Do we purposely give it in our everyday relationships (at work, at home, at the grocery store, etc.?) What is freedom? Are we free? Are we exercising our freedom? Are our choices leading us to our chosen destination? Do we have a chosen destination? What does a good life look like to us? How did we come to this conclusion? What action have we taken to begin living our good life? These questions are necessary to ask yourself in every aspect of our life: physically, mentally spiritually, financially, emotionally and socially. Are you purposely living your freedom (The Good Life) or just being a part of the masses with no questions asked…..?