Autumn wisdom

As we strive to achieve our brand of freedom, we go through life-altering experiences sometimes and we meet the most intriguing people along the way. Look back at your life and see how many moments of truth or freedom you can list and try to recollect the memories of people, places, activities, even foods and smells associated with those experiences. A first job, a first act of rebellion, a significant campaign you joined that forever changed your life, an unforgettable goodbye, a broken heart, soothing someone’s pain, fighting injustice, joining a rightful cause, high disappointment at discovering you have been lied to, and the list goes on. To each of us the threshold is different, as our tolerance level varies and depends on so many factors we are born with or we pick up as we adapt to our life and its experiences.

On the road to freedom we sometimes get the chance to make a difference in someone’s life or a group of people’s lives. Sometimes we take a stand and other times, we pass thinking “this is not for me to fight.” Regardless of the outcome, we are left with one more feeling to add to our pile of feelings chipping away at the person we started with. Sometimes, we even forget who we really were when we started our life of responsible activism and societal participation. Our experiences, the victories, the losses, the people we meet along the way, the ups and the downs shape us in unimaginable ways and mold us into the person we are right this minute. There is no guarantee that person will be the same a few minutes from now. The problem is that we often forget to touch base with the person we started out as, and we rarely hold accountable the person we end up being. We also don’t realize the passing time as we labor on the symbolic path.
So, if we reach a point of high achievement or rock bottom depression, we might feel younger or older. We might also feel a little stronger or weaker, richer or poorer. When the high or low dissipates, we are left with who we really are and the challenge is to be satisfied with who that person is.

Take a moment to acknowledge those who hurt you and those who helped you along the path towards your brand of freedom. They are all your teachers just as the experiences themselves and your actions and reactions throughout are teachers too.

The truth is we are the same person only with so many pieces of us that chipped away and were replaced by lessons on the long way to freedom. Being at peace with this simple truth should help us shape our actions, or activism, our freedom, our happiness.. Our life!