The failure turned into a rising tension between what he wanted for himself and what everyone else expected of him. After he tried one more idea that didn’t work he felt like a failure. None of his options seemed effective or lasted long enough to feel steady. James tried several ways to create peace in his life. At the end of the day I’d rather make people happy than taking a break.”ĭo you feel in conflict with yourself and with others? “My other challenge,” he says to me, “is that I love to be needed. He can’t pinpoint the source of his fatigue because of his many irons in the fire.
Like this fish, he is lost, has a hard time finding air and doesn’t know how to roam in his own skin with ease.īefore he goes to bed James feels restless, overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of living with purpose he is flopping around like a fish out of water. His boundaries are loose and ill-defined. It doesn’t matter if the event marks something important, he hasn’t the energy to enjoy it.
Read more about freedom.Ī full calendar to James means stress and pressure. I feel stuck in a rut.” To determine if James is truly motivated to change he has to answer some tough questions.
If I leave work early I will have so much to do in the morning. “I want help but it’s taking time away from my kid’s soccer games and dinner with the family. Although he was ready to make better choices, James felt guilty spending time with me.
He was having a hard time getting away from the nonstop family and work obligations that filled his schedule. Jim sank into the client chair at my office with a heavy heart. “Freedom is about being so truly, deeply and madly attached to your own soul that you can’t bear – if only for a moment – a life that doesn’t honor it.” -Andrea Balt Let us apply the American story of freedom to our own lives. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
One of the most-often quoted sentences from the Declaration sets forth this moral code to the world: To proclaim this moment of liberation, Americans reflected upon their published Declaration of Independence, a document asserting natural and legal rights. The Revolutionary war ended with the Americans claiming victory and an independent identity. Tensions rose and conflict ensued between Great Britain and the Americans. Tired of taxes and exploitation by the British government, American nationalists realized cooperation through peaceful means had become futile. Isn’t it wonderful we have the opportunity to celebrate freedom? Aside from fireworks and picnics, Independence Day reminds us how a group of determined people rallied to claim their power.