Your life, your freedom, your happiness… are your birthright.
Look no further than the Declaration of Independence, which states:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This is no small thing. However, we must ask the following three questions:
1. What creates life?
2. What creates liberty?
3. What creates happiness?
For #1 – the Declaration of Independence clearly states there is a Creator.
According to Webster’s dictionary, to create means to “bring into existence.”
You were breathed into existence by a Creator.
For #2 and #3… it is your “unalienable Right” to be free and happy.
What does “unalienable” even mean, though?
Again, according to Websters, the definition of unalienable is “impossible to take away or give up.”
Which means that no one can take away your right to be free and happy… that is…. except YOU.
If you aren’t happy and free… what do we do about it?
The next line in the Declaration of Independence tells us:
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
Now… let’s change the words around a little bit to apply directly to YOUR life…
“That to secure these rights, actions are taken by you, deriving their just powers from the consent of your beliefs, — That whenever any Form of belief becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of your Soul to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new belief.”
You see… you are either imprisoned by… or freed by… your own beliefs.
But, what is a belief?
I can decide not to “believe” in gravity… and yet it still exists.
I get it.. perhaps you want to find a way to this line of thinking wrong… which would mean you wouldn’t have to change.
So, for a moment… pause…. and OPEN your mind… and feel me.
Tony Robbins defines a belief as a “feeling of absolute certainty about what something means.”
So… belief = meaning.
What is meaning?
You can think of meaning as your “interpretation” of your life.
So… while we can choose to not believe in gravity… you will experience pain as a result.
So… a “belief” is simply being 100% convinced that your interpretation about life is correct.
And, to be 100% certain of the accuracy of your interpretation about life… is to be foolish.
Just ask any crime scene investigator… time and time again, you can interview multiple witnesses of a crime, and each person will give you a different story or contrary details about what happened.
So, if multiple people can see an event that happened recently differently and not agree on the facts, could you consider that perhaps you’ve remembered a few of the facts inaccurately about your past?
The only thing stopping you from being happy and free is your interpretation of your life.
Is it nothing short of self-evident that you were made by a Creator who intended you be free and happy – these are unalienable Rights.
And… no person outside of yourself can take away those Rights.
When you change your interpretation of what happened… you begin to see that life didn’t happen “to” you… but rather it’s happening “for” you.
When you change the interpretation of your life… you do not change the past… or put on some pollyanna glasses and pretend everything is okay… but… you realize that within every hurt, every setback… every seemingly “bad” thing… is also a lesson… an opportunity to grow and a chance to transmute the pain of your past into serving others.
And… when you do that… you take your power back.
Doing so won’t change the past… but it will change how you relate to the past and thus it will change your present moment and your future.
You are meant to be happy and free.
And you are free at any moment to change your beliefs… to change your meanings… to change your interpretation of what’s happened in the past…
Remember… you have been given the right to happiness and freedom, but it is up to you to CLAIM and CREATE a life where happiness and freedom are your experience.
Coaching Clarity:
Are there interpretations of your past that it’s time to abolish or alter?
and in doing so… claim your Right to happiness and freedom?
If so… what are they?
Remember to get out there, take action and make it real!