Thought for Today - Independence
"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility."
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Oprah
"Sometimes, instead of climbing over the barricades, you've got to walk around them, and sometimes you discover that the real enemy is not what you think it is."
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Bono, musician and activist
"I think that one of the things that characterizes this country in particular is the sense that we can overcome the sense that no matter how difficult our circumstances, we have the boldness to say, 'We can do better.'"
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President Barack Obama
"Whatever color, our religious loyalties, we are all Americans. As independent people, we have certain inalienable rights. That is really revolutionary."
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Dr. Maya Angelou
"Life is not an obligation, but an opportunity to be whoever and whatever you want. Make today an opportunity to create the world you want to live in."
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Ed and Deb Shapiro, spiritual teachers
"I am a believer in making the choices that are appropriate for you at the time depending on how you can most efficiently use your time and what your support system is around you."
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Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska
"Authenticity is about enjoying a new sense of freedom to be who we really are—ourselves, natural and without a mask in our relationships, our work and our life."
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Mike Robbins, author
"It means the opportunity to soar as high as you possibly can. It means people are not going to judge you or put a block in your way because of how you look, what language you speak, or where you came from. But freedom is not the ability to do anything you want—that's a misrepresentation. There is a responsibility that comes with freedom: to use it well. That's why I've always found the hedonistic or anarchist view of freedom troubling."
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Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state
"You can become whatever you want: If you want kindness, be kind; if you want friends, be a friend; if you want laughter, become a clown."
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Ed and Deb Shapiro, spiritual teachers
"Following freedom, rather than fear, is what enables us to dance even when we've fallen down."
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Martha Beck
"Freedom is about having a choice."
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Oprah
"There is nothing in life more liberating than to fight for something more than yourself."
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Sen. John McCain
"I feel like apathy did not create this country, but it is definitely going to destroy it. ... We can all say: 'Well, it doesn't matter to me, because, you know, it doesn't affect me. Nobody ever does anything for me.' ... This country isn't about other people doing stuff for you. It's about you doing it for yourself. That's what this country was built on."
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Cameron Diaz, actress
"If you are humble, you are no threat to anybody. Some behave in a way that dominates others. That's a mistake. If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important—and you do that by being genuine and humble. You know that other people have qualities that may be better than your own. Let them express them."
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Nelson Mandela
"Being comfortable with my independence now doesn't mean that I won't face challenges in the future."
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Serena Williams, professional tennis player
"Life is about not having answers, taking chances and risks and making the most of every moment, all without knowing what is going to happen next."
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Ed and Deb Shapiro, spiritual teachers
"The best relationship is one that does not foster too much independence nor too much dependence, but exists in the healthy interdependence zone."
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Karen Salmansohn, author
"We yearn for our independence not just so we can go where we want to and speak up when we want to, though that feels good. But that's child's play and ego-driven. The deeper part of us yearns to create, to fulfill whatever it is we were born to do—and that requires we take charge of our own power of choice. Meaning and purpose is driven by the engine of choice, make no mistake about that."
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Caroline Myss, author
"No should do or should not, no ought to or ought not. Lose the rules and follow your own truth."
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Ed and Deb Shapiro, spiritual teachers
"You must declare your own Independence Day, then your own Independence Year, then your own Independence Life. The purpose of your life is to find the purpose of your life."
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Karen Salmansohn, author
"We've discovered by walking through the uncomfortable feeling of saying no, there is incredible peace and freedom on the other side."
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Kathy Kinney and Cindy Ratzlaff, co-authors of Queen of Your Own Life
"There is a strength and spirit in Americans that is rare and unparalleled anywhere in the world. We have a resilience that most people don't have, and trials bring out the best in us. "
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Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state
"Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice. ... No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out."
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Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk, author and teacher
"The more you let go of being defined by the external, the more freedom, peace and power you can experience."
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Mike Robbins, author
"To learn how to fly, you first must learn how to stand, to walk, run, dance and even to climb. Only then can you soar as high as a bird."
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Ed and Deb Shapiro, spiritual teachers
"Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame, but greatness, because greatness is determined by service."
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Martin Luther King Jr.
"When I discover who I am, I'll be free."
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Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and scholar
"Condemn and you are made a prisoner. Forgive and you are freed. Such is the law that rules perception. It is not a law that knowledge understands, for freedom is a part of knowledge."
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Excerpted from A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
"Love is the revelation of the other person's freedom."
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Octavio Paz, poet
"The function of freedom is to free someone else."
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Toni Morrison, author
"Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom."
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Oprah
Published 07/01/2010
