In life, we all can think what we want to think. It is the great freedom of thought! What does it mean to have freedom of thought? How do you protect this type of freedom? Your thoughts can guide you into a world of opportunities or a world of trouble. It all depends on how you use your thoughts to navigate your life.
You can say whatever you want to say – it’s a free country, right? Of course, it is. You also have to be responsible for what you say. Your thoughts will allow you to make good decisions or bad ones. If you make a bad decision after you’ve thought it out, prepare to face the consequences. If you steal a candy bar from the store and you’ve thought about it, you know you will have to face what happens next. You may get caught or you may not get caught. If you get caught, you must deal with the law. If you don’t get caught, you must deal with your conscious. Your conscious can sometimes be just as bad as being in jail or paying that fine for stealing. You also have the choice of not stealing, and moving on with your life.
Growing up, your parents or guardians taught you (or someone told you) that you have a choice. If not, then I’m telling you now: you have a choice. It may not seem like it, but having a choice is a powerful thing. When your parents or guardians tell you what to do everyday, they are giving you structure, so that you will have a pattern of how you should live once you’re on your own. Once you’re out there working, or going to college, there is no one to tell you what to do everyday. How to travel, what to eat, what to wear, when to get up, when to go to sleep – it’s all on you, now. Although it seems simple, you will begin to see the effects of eating unhealthy, hitting the snooze button everyday, or not turning in your work on time.
You have the power to change your thoughts, so that you can change your daily patterns and outcomes. It’s totally up to you. As we get older, we become so caught up in life, we forget that we still have the choice to become what we want to become. Don’t fall into a rut where you do the same thing, day in and day out. You can go outside for lunch, instead of eating in the break room everyday. Whenever you’re not at work, you can choose to watch TV or go jogging. You can choose to go to Happy Hour or work on your website. You can even do all of these things and still be successful – we all have the same amount of time. Just remember, your freedom of thought is there to do what you want, so use it to your advantage.
On the other hand, when making your choices, you have the right not to do things. When someone tells you that you can’t start your company because it’s already been done, you have the choice not to listen to that kind of negative feedback. If someone says you’re too slow and you’ll never finish, you have the choice not to believe it. Use your freedom of thought to see past the nonsense. Don’t let anyone take your freedom of thought away from you and abuse it. It’s yours and only you can think for yourself. If you choose to believe the negativity that others speak, then that’s on you. You can push the Negative Nancy aside and make room for Positive Pam. Your thoughts can make you or break you. Do not give away that power so easily.
Always know – the choice is yours.