FREEDOM IS OPEN DOOR, FREEWILL IS CHOOSING TO WALK THROUGH IT__#242 ED2

What does it mean to be free?

For me, being free is being able to make your own choice. No one is forcing your hand. You can think what you want to think, say what you want to say, do what you want to do...That is freedom!!

But free will is deeper. Free will is inside you. It is that inner power to choose between good and bad, right and wrong, yes and no....It is you saying, I want to do this, not because somebody told me, but because I decided so.

People think freedom and free will are the same, but they are not....You can be free outside but not free inside. A man can live in a free country, but his family will not let him marry the woman he loves....He is free by law, but his will is not free.

Now, can we really do as we want when we know that consequences are stopping us?

I don't think so....Most timmes we don't do what we want, we do what is safe....We want to tell our boss the truth, but we keep quieet because we need salarry.... We want to leave a toxic relationshipp, but we stay becausse of what peopple will say.... We want to talk when we see bad thingss, but we keep quieet because we are sccared of troubble.

So what is controlling us? The consequence. It is like an invisible chain...It does not tie your leg, it ties your mind. You think of what will happen next, and you change your mind...So are you really free, or is fear making the choice for you?

And if there is a deterrent, can we still say we have free will?

Yes, but it is not pure free will. It is free will inside a fence.

Imagine you tell a child, play with any toy in this room, but don't touch the TV or I will beat you....The child will play, but his eyes will always be on the TV...He is free, but his freedom is shaped by warning.

That is how life is for us. Law says don't steal. Culture says don't dress like this. Religion says don't do that. So we learn to choose inside the box.

But does that remove free will? No. Because free will is not about no punishment. It is about you still having the power to choose even when you know there will be punishment. If you know you will go to jail for stealing and you still steal, you used your free will. If you know you will lose friends for saying the truth and you still say it, that is free will.

So at the end, being free is when the door is open. Free will is having the mind to decide if you will walk through it, even when you know what is waiting on the other side.

We have free will, but it always comes with a price.

What does free will mean to you?

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