The graf about pain is spot-on. So familiar. And of course the vitamin C comparison made me laugh, and it's true.
I spent years thinking it was important to live life on my own terms, to be free to do things my own way -- and that definitely turned out to be correct. But only because I had to have that freedom to stare into my future and say, "Now I can do whatever I want. What do I want? What do I feel is best in the long run?" The answer to that is hard to articulate, but "love" and "service" and "sacrifice" figure into it much more -- though in a way that's hard yet to put into words -- than I had imagined. Freedom doesn't mean much without the felt responsibility to consider surrender to something other (greater?) than oneself.
Some Hanson lyrics have been sticking with me:
Love is only what you give up Life isn't what you get Love won't always fill your cup But life's when you start to live Life's when you learn to give
We're not any different re: this: "focused on helping people discover new things, I don't choose to pursue deep friendships on my free time that take a lot of energies to maintain
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Freedom and constraint.crazystace03October 10 2009, 14:30:49 UTC
I think it's about balance, Seth. You can't be everything to everyone, not even yourself, so it is always going to be about balancing freedom AND constraint. Work is something that you do and as you've seen, it can either enhance your life or inhibit you from doing the things you want. If you can make a go at this freelance job, travel, and feel free, I think you should go for it. You truly should be living your life for yourself, and the constraints in your life may not understand, but if they love you, they will respect your decisions. A happy son, friend, boyfriend, person is contagious and if you are doing something you love, you may even inspire other people to follow their own hearts
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Re: Freedom and constraint.sethisaliveOctober 12 2009, 16:36:24 UTC
Thanks, Cheekies! Balance is the most correct answer here, you win! I think I can still balance freedom and constraint by doing the NYC contracting and doing EXCO on the side. I think trying to do EXCO (education work) and the teaching job (education work) would be imbalanced. We'll see, the NYC folks and I are talking this week!
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I spent years thinking it was important to live life on my own terms, to be free to do things my own way -- and that definitely turned out to be correct. But only because I had to have that freedom to stare into my future and say, "Now I can do whatever I want. What do I want? What do I feel is best in the long run?" The answer to that is hard to articulate, but "love" and "service" and "sacrifice" figure into it much more -- though in a way that's hard yet to put into words -- than I had imagined. Freedom doesn't mean much without the felt responsibility to consider surrender to something other (greater?) than oneself.
Some Hanson lyrics have been sticking with me:
Love is only what you give up
Life isn't what you get
Love won't always fill your cup
But life's when you start to live
Life's when you learn to give
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Love the Hanson lyrics :)
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I think I can still balance freedom and constraint by doing the NYC contracting and doing EXCO on the side. I think trying to do EXCO (education work) and the teaching job (education work) would be imbalanced. We'll see, the NYC folks and I are talking this week!
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