Power Of Freedom - Working For Yourself

By Tina Su

Have you ever watched closely, the animals and the birds at the zoo? When I was a little kid, taken to the zoo by my parents, I could see the sadness in their eyes. The chimpanzees, the lions, the elephants... All of them getting the best of attention. The best of perks. They and their families are thoughtfully looked after. No need to forage, it is served on the dot by dedicated HR department (oops, zoo-keeper) professionals. No need to moan and groan when sick - the best doctors take care of them, and the bill is footed by the company (oops, the government). So much fun and frolic on the weekends, with so many kids coming with their parents to gawk at them.

Why then the sadness? Why aren't they happy?
At the end of the day, it is a caged existence. A golden cage, but a cage nevertheless. That is not how nature had designed the animal and bird kingdom to be. They were born to be free. To survive and thrive by the rule of the jungle.

That is the case with us human beings too. To be free as the bird and to soar in the sky to the limits that one's wings can take one to. Without the restrictions and the cap of organizational (read: somebody else's) priorities, which dictate and decide what one should and should not be doing any given moment. And the moment after that. And the coming months and years.

The HR department and management of companies around the globe spend trillions of dollars to build nice facades and images of how people grow in a team, and how good it is for an individual to join and slog (sorry, work) for their company. Simply scratch the surface, and you see it is the same slavery and drudgery. At the end of the day, one still has to wag one's tail (sorry, appear for performance reviews) before the seniors who in their supreme wisdom decide the additional quantum of bones (oops, increments, promotions) that one should be given.

And then there is the politics and the watching of other people's faces. The comments and the remarks of fellow human beings who have to spend much time currying favors, juggling for this assignment or that project, all the time on the lookout for that next opening in some other zoo ... some other cage ... some other set of people with their own code of "supreme wisdom"... People who one gives the power to decide how one's life should be lived...

We are all here for a limited amount of time. If we're not careful, our life will flash by all the while living under someone else's intentions, someone else's dreams, without ever explore our own wishes and true desires. Make your life count. If you have dreams and passions, go after them. Use the freedom given to you as your birthright. You are never as stuck as you think.

Time is your most valuable resource, one where you will never get back once passed. Ask yourself, "Is what I am doing right now worthy to be trading my most valuable resources for?" Steve Jobs wakes up every morning and asks himself this insightful question: "If I have 1 month left to live. Is this what I would be doing, today?" to gage how his time is spent. Now, that's powerful stuff!

It's possible that your work for an employer is a worthy one, one where freedom, joy and fulfillment are found. But more cases than not, we are seeing typical individuals who are unable to wrench themselves out of their torment existence, accepting their situations as fact, refusing to see any alternatives, and 'forever' flowing in unconsciousness.

If you are working for someone else and if their goals do not align with your own, pause, think, and go back over this piece once again.

Tina is passionate about Personal Development and Spiritual Growth. She runs multiple businesses and has learned how to do so without any Stress. Visit her website at Think Simple. Be Decisive for her secrets to Productivity, Motivation and Happiness.