Now that I am “free” I realize how scary and uncomfortable it can be. 

People say “A boat gives you freedom.”   

Hogwash!  A boat offers no more freedom than the legs you were born with!

Freedom is a trap!

Freedom only exists in your mind as a future unattainable state to distract you from the present moment, which is all that ever exists.  

There is only “now!”

As Allan Watts said in his book The Wisdom of Insecurity, “So long as the mind believes in the possibility of escape from what it is at this moment, there can be no freedom.”

In other words, if you are always seeking freedom, you never can be free.

So why is the unattainable freedom so enticing to most of us?

Now that I have been living and sailing a yacht which can potentially take me anywhere in the world... I think I understand.

The answers to life questions is found within, so let's look at our own human behavior for a moment.

Have you ever passed marinas and noticed that they are always chuck full with so many boats of all shapes and sizes?  There are small skiffs and sailing boats, and big yachts that are able to travel anywhere.

Some boats are taken out on weekends and Holidays but otherwise sit peacefully in their slips for the majority of their lives.

In my small association we have too many kayaks for the allotted space so every year a lottery is conducted to see who gets the coveted spaces.  

Yet if you walk by the marina any beautiful Summer day no one is using the kayaks.

Why do you suppose that is?

Why is the idea of sailing off into the sunset or riding off into the open plains or rocketing off into the deep unexplored space spark our imagination and fuel our restless souls?

Yet most of us never get any farther than binging on the very few doing it on Youtube?  

What happens once we obtain the freedom we think we want? 

Do we instantly become satisfied and content?

For me, freedom was close to becoming just another form of mind bondage.

If you are always seeking this ideal then once you think you get there your mind will create a reality which binds you once again.  

Once you have what you have been longing for all your life you have no more excuses, but why you can't just sail off?

Sadly most of us will create new excuses why we can't sail off or start a business, or travel and it will be attributed to all the bonds that we feel tied to in life...  the kids, the job, the house, what will our friends and family think?

In actuality the only thing that ever traps us is our own mind.  We get “trapped” in thoughts of doubt and uncertainty, and scarcity, and self criticism. 

What we ultimately must do is learn to quiet our distracting thoughts and, as Eckart Tolle said “live in the NOW” because now is all there is.  The past only exists in your mind, and the future is speculation. 

What if you were to free yourself from your thoughts, would that finally make you free?

What are your limiting thoughts that are holding you back from living your purposeful life?

-Stephen Endres

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