Thursday, May 23, 2013

Freedom


In the heart of man, there are many seeds that have been planted: the desire to be super-human or immortal, the desire to be able to conquer life, the desire to save or rescue others - to be a hero, the desire to seek out God, and the desire to be free. 
Deep in man's heart, he longs for freedom. Freedom - free from bondage, slavery, suffering, oppression, depression, sickness, or whatever. Man longs to be free. 

We don't have much of a choice as to where we are born, or what government we are governed by (well, in today's world, that choice may actually exist, but it hasn't always). There are some outside constraints as to how much freedom we can experience. However, there are many aspects of freedom that are in our control. 

Your lifestyle, the actions you choose from day to day, play a large role in how much freedom you get to experience. If we are complacent, or apathetic towards moving (as we were designed to do), we can actually imprison ourselves to a life of obesity, pain, stiffness, fear, depression, and dreams. Movement is the key to freedom, the key to living.

We can actually put ourselves in bondage and become slaves to a chair, or a sedentary life if we do not engage in moving like we were created to do. Walking, skipping, running, playing - these are movements that we were made for. They are not intended for drudgery, they are not "exercise". They are vitality. They are freedom. 

Look around you. How many people do you see that sit around and say things like, "When I was young, I had all kinds of energy." , "I used to be a great football player when I was in high school." , "When you get older, things start to fall apart." , "I have to be careful, I have a bad back." , "Son, daddy can't throw the football with you. His knee hurts." This list can go on almost to infinity. 

Life is not meant to be lived in bondage to our broken down bodies. Life is meant to be lived in freedom through our resilient bodies. We are not made to sit around and remember how well we used to feel, or how well we used to be able to run and play. We are made to experience how awesome it is to run and play when we are 80 years old. We are made to be able to go hiking through the wonder and beauty that God created, we are meant to be able to play with our kids and their kids. We were not meant to be imprisoned in our own bodies. 

Deep in your heart, you long to be free. You long to live and experience life. You have a huge degree of choice as to whether you nourish that desire and enjoy vitality. You also have a huge degree of choice as to whether you suffocate that desire to the point that it haunts you and aches your heart. Your heart, your soul cries out for life, for freedom. Find a way, MAKE a way, get up and move. Move and TAKE your freedom. Live.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post! If we cease to move we cease to live. Move everyday doing various movement patterns ranging from jumping rope, running, skipping, crawling, calisthenics, throwing, swimming, walking to kettlebell exercises or correctives. Enjoy the beauty and purity of movement everyday just as a child would. It's not about killing yourself and training the body into submission, it's about practicing and playing with movement patterns to become better and more efficient at them. As Gray Cook said; " first move well, then move often".

Unknown said...

Thank you, Jim. You are preaching life, brother! Keep up the good work!!