Remaining Free when Your Country is in Lockdown

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Freedom

Welcome to Three-Peat Tuesday! 

Each weekly blog will contain three P’s: Pillar, Principle and Practical, all geared towards nourishing you on your personal and spiritual growth journey.

Pillar: Pursuing my Freedom

“We gain freedom in anything through commitment, discipline and fixed habit.”-Richard Foster, author.

Principle: Regaining my Freedom

Are you one of those persons who does periodic evaluations? Sometimes in my goal-setting exploits, I divide my year into three parts: January-April, May-August and September-December. Smaller chunks make things more manageable.

I’m still trying to discern what my best productivity rhythms are with the ongoing fluctuation in lockdowns and re-openings here in Trinidad and Tobago. And speaking of lockdowns, these restrictions on my freedom can be frustrating at times.

This raises a two-pronged question: what is true freedom and is it really possible? Richard Foster, quoted above, says freedom is accessible to anyone, but it is conditional. You must be disciplined. You must be committed. You must have unshakeable habits.

This is all about our inner self. We’re dealing with character. It’s reminiscent of the psalmist who wrote about he who “keeps an oath even when it hurts” (Psalm 15:4).

Freedom, then, does not depend totally on external circumstances. Your country could have no COVID-19 restrictions and you can still be a slave to bad habits and an underdeveloped character.

Conversely, you can be under lockdown and yet be experiencing the fullness of a free life because you are steadfastly ordering your private world and seeking to have your inside match your outside.

Ultimately, we all have the freedom to choose what we will focus on, even at the heights of a sobering and life-changing pandemic.

Practical: Securing my Freedom

Keep cultivating your inner garden, one day at a time. Freedom lives there.  

If you were inspired by this blog, please consider sharing it with one other person today. To learn more about these and other related themes that promote the cultivation of an integrated inner self, read UNBEATABLE! which is now available on Amazon in print and as an e-book.

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Nanieno

    Thanks Tyrone, thought provoking as always…

  2. J.Tyrone Marcus

    Thanks for the feedback, Nino.

  3. Maria Davis-Toussaint

    Thank you Tyrone, I have been evaluation my life to see just how free I am in Christ, this has come at just the right time for me. thanks for always having the scriptures to encourage.

  4. J.Tyrone Marcus

    You’re most welcome, Maria.

  5. Ronke+Cunningham

    Freedom always comes at a cost; even personal freedom. It means letting go of the comfortable to attain true freedom and that’s the scary part for me. The lockdown however has afforded me the time to do some introspection and forced me to push past my comfort zone. It’s been scary in some cases, and yet liberating. Grateful for these times.

  6. J.Tyrone Marcus

    Thanks for these beautifully profound comments, Ronke.

  7. Michelle+Marcus

    Thank you Tyrone. Being in the essential service industry has kept me working. So more time has been spent on my end creating freedom for others and not so much for my self. I still try to find time to order my world although limited.

  8. J.Tyrone Marcus

    Thanks for your service to the country during this time, Michelle.

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