Before I leave the office on Friday, I sit in my thinking chair and reflect on my most cherished feeling, one that I would never want to be without: the sense of FREEDOM. More than anything else in my life, the feeling of freedom, the sense of freedom is the most special. I realize the freedoms that I have and how many women do without it. I reflect on this precious gift. Why is it one of the seven most important principles in life?

My corner chair once belonged to my father, a chair that is a bit weathered, and when you sit in it, it sinks down, “bringing you down to reality” as I like to think of it!

I feel a tremendous sense of freedom and see how it allowed me to become who I am.

I write the following in my diary. Although it is deeply personal, I read it over and over again, and feel I would like to share it with you. I want very much to express gratitude today, for the freedom I have had all my life.

Thank you Lord, for the opportunity to pursue my dreams, for guiding me and protecting me, for letting me follow what I love even though I did not always know what it entailed.

You stood by me, shielding me and protecting me. Despite all my silly life choices, you appeared to me, protecting me and guiding me and telling me to focus on the most essential. Many choices I made, many places I traveled, yet they all led me to this one precious part of my life, even though I did not always know it.

I suffered, I cried, I hurt deeply, but I always re-grouped myself and forged ahead. What are my hurts compared to the hurts of the world, the dispossessed, the ignored, the unloved, the trampled on? I developed a way to hurt and still work; to cry and still go forward; to grieve and still to complete my tasks. I found a way to keep my heart on the right track and my mind moving forward no matter what I was feeling in other parts of my being.

I see how much freedom this life allows me – freedom to read, to study, to learn, to serve, to help, to teach, to grow, to love, to be with like-minded people from all over the world, to express myself any way that I want, to have the freedom to be heard in many languages and continents; the freedom to maintain my health and well-being, to swim and dance and cook and eat. I wonder, how many women in the world suffer; they have no choices, no freedom to be themselves?

Thank you for giving me the freedom to find out who I am, what I am made of, to learn from my mistakes, and remain faithful to my deepest dreams.

I wonder what we are really capable of becoming?

Although my life has not been stellar by any standards and in many of its aspects, I have always had the freedom to correct myself, to make good, to remain steady, to reach toward being better. Freedom gave me the opportunity to change.

There are many times when I really don't know how much further I can go, how much more I can forgive, how much more I can strive, how much more I can serve and give and let go. I fall into a depth of grief, then I emerge again – surprisingly better! How does that work?

What I find is a deeper love, a deeper forgiveness, a deeper self-forgetfulness, a clearer direction for my life; simplicity in freedom. Freedom is simple and uncomplicated.

Thank you Lord for the freedom to be who I am – slowly to find out – ever so slowly – my True Self.

And, as I say “Thank You” to You, I realize that it is all my friends that I am thanking, the men and women in my life, my loved ones near and far, my family, who are You.

I say “Lord” but I certainly don't know who You are; I know my friends. I say thank You Lord for my friends; they are You and You are them.

As I look outside at my garden, the lilies bloom in pinks and yellows, never caring how hot it is, how dry it is, how anyone cares or not. The little desert bunny sits sprawled out under the rose bush. It is moist and cool there. It spreads out its belly to feel as much of the cool as possible. It is the desert here; today it is 110 degrees, yet, life blooms. Life is and becomes. I too am a creature in the desert of life, programmed toward striving, to becoming eventually perfect, as perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.

The freedom to persevere, to grow, to expand, to become fully human; freedom is my most cherished quality of life and life principle. I could not live without it.

I pray today so that freedom spreads to every woman in the world, to every child in the world, to every man in the world so that we can all be free to become our True Self.
Gita