Happy 4th of July

Celebrating freedom from what we want

Me and Tony being patriotic on our ranch, The Lonely Places Ranch.

Happy 4th

For too long, our only understanding of freedom has been the freedom from being constrained—the freedom to follow our heart’s impulses without concern about what others think.

But there is an even more important freedom. It’s the freedom to say “No” to our heart’s impulses.

King Ralph: Imprisoned by His Desires

A medieval legend says that the obese King Ralph was deposed from his throne and imprisoned in a tower. Ironically, a thinner person could have walked right out of his cell through the door. But King Ralph was too rotund to squeeze through the door.

To be free, all he needed to do was lose weight.

Unfortunately, the King’s usurper presented King Ralph with an array of rich and fattening foods each day. And King Ralph could not deny his heart’s impulses. So, he remained imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Most of us don’t need more freedom to do what we want; we need a different kind of freedom—the freedom to say “No” to what we want.