You vs You by Todd Cahill

Author:Todd Cahill
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626344846
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Published: 2019-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

RETURN

What consumes your mind, controls your life.

When you were a child, the fastest way to get you to do something was to tell you not to do it, right? Has that really changed? I’ll try to believe you if you tell me that you don’t go over the speed limit and have never parked where you’re not supposed to park. Did you know that in Tennessee it’s illegal to share your Netflix password with others?

Here’s why you’ve done one of the above: free will. We all do as we please, especially in this country. We all have the same basic opportunities to create freedom. I’m not talking about freedom in the sense of great heroes of history who won wars for independence or the underdogs who fought against their oppressors. Think smaller than that: I’m talking about you and me. I’m talking about the everyday rights we have to be who we are and do what we do (okay yes, ultimately because of the great heroes and underdogs), whether it’s our careers, our relationships, our future, our finances, our on-demand shows, or our driving tactics. It’s a blessing and a curse because as lucky as we are to be able to choose, there is a downside.

Remember when you were a teenager? All you wanted was freedom. Life began when you got your driver’s license. But then remember the first time you had to pay for gas? Your first apartment, your first credit card, your first college party—elation! Until you had to actually clean up your own kitchen, pay a high interest rate, and be hungover for an entire weekend. Freedom comes with consequences.

Nationally in 2014 it was reported that 21.5 million adults (aged 12 and older) battled substance abuse, and almost 80 percent of them also struggled with alcohol use.1 More than one in three adults (37.7 percent) were diagnosed as obese.2 As many as 750,000 young people, ages 14 to 21, revealed a gambling addiction.3 About 6 percent of women and 5.5 percent of men admitted to being compulsive buyers.4 Sex addiction affected an estimated 8 percent of men and 3 percent of women.5 Today, approximately 19.2 million people suffer from a specific phobia,6 and over 21 million people drink six or more cups of coffee every day.7 People are anything but free.

Addictions, pain, pleasure, insecurities, money, fear . . . what are you a slave to? We all have something. Whether it’s due to genetics, impulse control, boredom, or environment, every single one of us is up against something that threatens our freedom. Although, on the flip side, it is freedom that allowed us to choose it in the first place.

This is a perfect segue to discuss different types of freedom. I feel there are three. The first is freedom from, the second is freedom to, and the third is freedom for.

The first, freedom from, is a reaction. It’s past-oriented; you are fighting something behind you, you want to get rid of it, and you often have to go backward in order to disentangle its grip.

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