How to Fulfill Your Wish to be Free
by Guy Finley

Seen or not, we all live in a world the size of our understanding. This world is inhabited by the creatures our present level of consciousness permits, and governed by the contents of our heart. These timeless truths help explain the happiness of the Wise. For us they are an invitation: Learning to be Wise is the same as choosing a life of freedom.  
 
There is no substitute for freedom. And, as we shall find out, we all share in many mistaken ideas about what it means to be free. This is why I wrote the “Seeker’s Guide to Self–Freedom”: to help those who long for freedom realize the truths that lead us there. So, to get us started, as well as to illustrate a few crucial ideas, let me ask you three simple questions:
 
1. Would you rather spend your life trying to impress your friends and associates of your self-worth, or be free all together of the never ending pain of believing that you are only as valuable in life as you can get others to agree you are?

2. Would you rather spend your life straining to reach some “tomorrow” that you hope will resolve some unforgiving past regret, or be entirely free of these parts of yourself that insist upon you dragging around all of these unhappy yesterdays?
 
3. Would you rather spend your life acquiring social position and possessions—pursuits that do little more then distract you from a lingering sense of something missing in your life—or would you rather be free of this ravenous inner self that can’t find lasting contentment no matter what it acquires?   
 
These are important questions. They point to the center of a certain crossroad each of us stands upon every day where—after certain events take place—we almost always ask ourselves: “Given what just happened to me, what is the right path that will free me of these painful thoughts and feelings, of my stressed sense of not knowing what to do? Do I take the left fork and just let go of my hopes, my aspirations to achieve my dreams? Or, do I take the right fork and return to the inevitable grind; hoping against hope that this time things will be different?”  Doesn’t this dialogue sound familiar?
 
Most of us have reached this point so many times that we have become literally numb with not knowing; where rather than realizing we must find a new way to look at and understand our sense of captivity, we just accept it and its inevitable heart- ache. What are we to do? 
 
Giving up and agreeing to live unfulfilled is untenable for most of us, and yet going round and around—getting nowhere—seems to be the other fork in this road of life. Is there another path? The answer is yes; a very special one sits just out of our present sight; one that leads us directly to what our Heart of hearts longs for: Freedom!
 
We have come to an important point in our study: What to do at these crossroads that are secretly places in our own consciousness? Before we proceed on our new path to self-freedom, we must learn to recognize the difference between what we will call our social, or cultural freedoms, versus individual spiritual freedom. Don’t let these terms throw you. They will prove easy to grasp and good for us to learn. Common sense will prove their truth to us.
 
For instance, when it comes to our cultural or social freedoms we are each free to choose whatever we wish to be in life. But this sort of freedom comes with an inherent, but invisible limitation attached to it: What one chooses to become in his or her social culture is usually what that same society smiles upon and deems good.
 
In our Western culture this kind of convention means striving to become one who somehow stands out above the rest—whether this platform is gained through enhanced position, possessions, or increased social powers. This means that most of what we associate with higher “freedoms” in life is wrapped up in the achievement of what amounts to be socially acceptable, mutually agreed upon values. In turn this means that one’s sense of freedom is very much founded in—and therefore bounded by—what others believe is true about the meaning of life and the nature of freedom. Of course, much to our dismay, the moment these beliefs change—and they always do—we feel ourselves captives again. Then it seems we have no choice but to scramble to recreate our lost sense of freedom. The point is that while such socially contrived “freedoms” do have a kind of reality to them, the freedom we find within them is not real.
 
To understand this last idea, let’s look at a simple example or two. In today’s world convention has it that (our) anger is necessary for us to survive; even good for us if correctly channeled. We are taught by society that it is our right to feel such heated emotions and, if need be, to freely express them.
Of course we are free to get angry. But, can we see that whenever we are angry, we are not free? We are made captives of that negative state that drives us. The anger itself tells us what to do, how to get it done, when and where to strike to recapture our lost or compromised freedom.
 
This same state of unseen self-captivity applies to any negative state we unknowingly give our consent to be. Yes, we are free to worry, get anxious or resentful, and so on, but when we are negative like this, we are not free . . . except to explain to ourselves yet once again why we ache. Which brings us to the main “new” idea that runs, chapter by chapter, through the heart of my latest book.
 
We are beginning to realize that what we presently think provides us with freedom does not. We might better say that these social freedoms are, at best, limited; as any condition outside of ourselves that we depend upon for our sense of freedom makes this same freedom conditional. And real freedom, like real love, cannot be conditional or else it is a creature by another name.

We also know because of this new understanding, at least to some extent, that we cannot name what it is that is to grant us freedom, for whatever our thoughts identify as being the source of what would make us limitless instantly produces some limit! For instance, if I name “our love” or “my wealth” (or whatever the condition) as being the source of my freedom, then haven’t I also agreed that any change in this condition amounts to the loss of any freedom formerly derived from it? This should be readily recognized as being true. What this discovery teaches us is that the only way we can approach finding true self-freedom is to do some specialized spiritual detective work. We must look in a new direction. We need to find out for ourselves the answer to this surprising new question we have just uncovered: What is it that is taking our freedom away from us?
 
From this new premise, with this line of inquiry, we start with the idea that freedom isn’t something to be obtained, or somehow “won” through acquisition—that mistaken socially conceived idea that we’ve seen doesn’t work. So, as surprising, even doubtful as it may seem at first, we begin our search for self-freedom with the realization that it is our natural state to (already) be free.
 
This idea does help to prove a number of our own experiences; for instance, how we cannot stand to feel ourselves a captive of anything. Common sense dictates that only something inherently free resists limits. If unconscious captivity were the actual root of our present consciousness, we would never even think to struggle with something that restricts us. What these findings lead us to is this: When it comes to our search for freedom, our task is no longer the game of “seek and find.” The self-freedom we long for is not found somewhere apart from us. Now our work is to awaken to what it is within and about ourselves that is secretly stripping us of the light of our native freedom! The good news is that this unseen darkness can be discerned. Our reward will be to find ourselves released from a life of unconscious servitude to a master that cannot be satisfied. Let’s get started!
 
If we will look closely at some of the moments in our lives where we find ourselves feeling the least free, one fact about these unwanted times should jump right out at us: We feel negative. And just for the record, unhappiness and “unfreeness” go hand in hand.
 
Now ordinarily our unhappy feelings give rise to a whole host of thoughts about how to free ourselves from this unhappy condition that now holds us captive. Such negative states are very active—telling us what is missing, why it is the way it is, and what to do about it. But now we know something spiritually priceless:
 
We know that this negative state is the problem itself! We can understand that any dark cloud blocking the sun cannot lead us to the light when it is the very creature covering it up. To see the truth of this begs of us the next important question in our investigation: How are we so easily being getting tricked, and by what? What is going on within us making us believe we can look to the fox to guard the chicken coop? Here is the answer:
 
All lingering negative emotions are in partnership with a certain kind of unconscious thinking that not only gives these punishing feelings credibility, but causes us to see their presence within us as being natural and necessary given our perceived captive condition. To see through their charade is to free ourselves from their captivity. Then freedom shines out like the sun from behind the clouds. Here for our study is a short list of these secretly troublesome thoughts that imprison us:
 
Comparing ourselves to others.
 
Measuring ourselves against who we had hoped to be (by this time).  
 
Mentally reviewing failed plans hoping to revitalize them in some future time.
 
Trying to figure out why we feel “unfree,” and then resenting our discoveries. 
 
Rehashing any past painful moments for any reason.
 
Can we begin to see from these very common examples of conflict-filled thinking that, within it and by it, we actually build the very prison we then seek to escape?
 
Would any of us ever feel inadequate for any reason if we didn’t first embrace some imaginary perfected state of self to which we then unconsciously compare ourselves? Add to this fact that these same pain-producing self-pictures are built upon socially accepted ideals—not only impossible to gain as imagined, but impossible to keep—and we arrive at the surprising new understanding needed to realize real freedom:
 
Once we cease to take part in unconsciously constructing our own psychological cages, we will have no need to set ourselves free. We will just know—without having to think about it—that who we really are always has been free.
 
We will see, beyond any doubt, that Freedom is not a time to come, that it does not dwell in a place apart from us. It is our True Nature. This is the Truth that fulfills itself within us if we will only dare fulfill its promise to us.
 
Please accept my invitation to learn more about the truths that set us free. Pick up a copy of the “Seeker’s Guide to Self-Freedom” and welcome its liberating light. I know you will be happy that you did.

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Guy Finley is the best-selling author of 18 books and tape albums on self-transformation. Doctors, ministers, and industry leaders recommend his works, which have sold over a million copies and have been translated into ten languages. For information about Guy Finley’s books, booklets, tapes, and helpful on-going study groups call (541) 476-1200 or visit www.guyfinley.com where you can also sign up to receive a free weekly Key Lesson.