Live Free or Die

A couple days ago I was driving home from work and stopped at a red light behind a car from New Hampshire. I happened to notice the license plate, which says "Live Free or Die". Although I know it references U.S. history (The phrase was taken from a speech written by Revolutionary War soldier John Stark, which may or may not have been borrowed from Patrick Henry's famous quote "give me liberty or give me death". Source Wikipedia.) it got me thinking.

Of course when speaking of the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans we think of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. And rightfully so. Those documents are what makes the United States of America the greatest country in the world. However, the phrase "live free or die" has value beyond the general meaning of the words. If you look a bit deeper, it is also a metaphor for the most powerful possession all humans have. And that is absolute freedom.

I know what you're thinking. Not all humans are free. There are places in remote countries that still operate extremely barbarically. There are slaves, indentured servants, and millions of citizens of Communist countries. And I agree. But one thing that many people either go through their entire lives failing to realize or realize and then fail to take advantage of is the fact that they control how they think. No matter how bad their situation is, no matter how hopeless, they have one thing that no one can touch. Their thoughts. Even those without physical freedoms have the power over how they think and what they think about. Obviously, in cases of great despair it is much easier for me to say they have control than it is for them to implement it. But whether they utilize their ability to direct their thoughts or not, that capability is still present. And it still cannot be touched by their captors.

Consider the situation Viktor Frankl faced during the Holocaust. In his book Man's Search for Meaning he tells how he survived three years of living in a number of different concentration camps. He writes about how brutally he was treated, and it is amazing that he survived to tell his story. His story revolves around the fact that no matter what the guards forced him to do,or withheld from him, he was never not in control of his thoughts. Even at his darkest, most hopeless moments he still clung to the last bit of freedom he had. He thought of times to come where he'd be happy and clean and comfortable. And he openly admits that this control over what he thought about and his firm conviction that it would become true is what gave him the strength to survive that horrible time.

It's a great feeling to know that you have something nobody can take away from you, no matter how horribly they treat you. Although Frankl's situation was an extreme case, one that few if any of us can ever understand completely, the ability to control how we think is a power we all possess, both during times of hardship and success. I'm not trying to make light of the Holocaust by any means, but I want to make it clear that if a man such as Frankl can survive such conditions solely on the strength of his inner voice, why is it so hard for us to get through much less exhausting and painful situations?

Frankl's book suggests that man's primary need is a realization of meaning for his life, even before Maslow's lowest rung of the hierarchy. Once a man has found the meaning, he is able to survive nearly anything. It is those who are depressed to the point of hopelessness, who have given up, and no longer find meaning in living that are the one's who commit suicide. But convince them to find just one reason for living, one purpose that their life serves, such as being a help to a loved one, and suddenly they begin to realize why they must continue on.

When times are tough, and things are spiraling wildly out of control remember that your thoughts are still a product of you. And the power of thinking in a positive way is extremely helpful in turning negative situations around. You might be stuck in a job you don't like, or you might be on a streak of bad dates, or you might be disappointed with your latest test score, but no matter how down on you people are, you still have the ability to pick yourself up. Only you can control the thoughts in your head, so only you can ultimately decide to get back on track. It's a lot of pressure to know that you are the only person who can do those things, but once you've realized that, it's an eye opening experience. And once you begin to use that power, no one can stop you.

The freedom of thought is what makes us human, it's the source of all our potential, and it belongs to only us for our entire life. If you allow it to become compromised, which only you can do, then you sacrifice the one thing that distinguishes you. And people will try to do that. It's up to you to not only preserve the one freedom you have exclusive control over, but to maximize its potential and find meaning in your life.