Declaration of Independence

Happy Independence Day!!!!

On July 4, 1776, thirty-four brave men, representing the hopes and ideals of hundreds of thousands of American colonists, declared in writing that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States;...and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to do all...things which Independent States may of right do."

For years the colonies had suffered at the hands of "the tyrant" King George--and so that they could not possibly be misunderstood, the writers of the Declaration even included a list of 27 individual and specifc offenses that had been repeatedly wrought against the colonies. They concluded the list by saying that "in every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

These men believed (and demonstated their belief) that ALL PEOPLE have a right to be free--that ALL PEOPLE HAVE A GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO DETERMINE THEIR OWN DESTINY. They built this country to ensure that EVERYONE would have an EQUAL opportunity to create the life that they envision for themselves.

This holiday is a great time to reflect--Have we truly embraced what they have given us? Or have we succumbed to our own "tyrant"--some person or circumstance that is controlling us and preventing us from truly living the life that we desire? And if so, is that tyrant really fit to be the ruler of us?

The writers of the Declaration of Independence understood human nature and wrote that "all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer...than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

Let me say that again: Mankind are more disposed to SUFFER than to RIGHT THEMSELVES.

So which will it be? Will we continue to suffer? Or will we declare our own independence, RIGHT what is WRONG in our lives, and ABOLISH the forms (habits) to which we are accustomed?

I will leave that for you to ponder.

Again, Happy Independence Day--and I mean that in EVERY sense of the word. :o)

Voluntary Simplicity (Part 1)

It never ceases to amaze me how the Universe always provides exactly what you need at the exact moment you need it, in exact alignment with you demonstrating exactly what you want.

This weekend, the January 2009 issue of "O" magazine landed in my lap. It had been a prop for a play I was producing, and when we closed the show Saturday night, I started to throw it away but at the last minute decided instead to take it home for recycling.

Then, on Sunday, I was suffering a bit of a stomachache, so I left church early and went home to bed. There next to the bed was the magazine. I picked it up and started reading an article called Back to Basics by Allison Glock.

The headline reads:

Overwhelmed by consumerism and sobered by the economy, more Americans are embracing the less-is-more philosophy of "voluntary simplicity," trading possession obsession for personal fulfillment. Allison Block drops in on a few devoted followers and discovers that for them, enough really is enough.

I read the article with enthusiasm. After all, I was once part of the voluntary simplicity movement--sort of.

I grew up in a cluttered home. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living areas, and four people, we should have had plenty of room, but stuff was everywhere. So much so that although we had both a dining room table and a "breakfast bar" (a counter extended from the kitchen that my brother and I fondly referred to as "the restaurant"), we could only eat at one of them, because the other was piled with "stuff." My mom, a collector of sentimental memorabilia and "just in case" doodads, would say, "We're messy, not dirty."

For as long as I can remember, I hated it. In fact, I used to lie on the floor, look up, and wish that I lived on the ceiling--there, everything was clean and empty.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that my own room was no better than the rest of the house. After all, although I dreamed of a better life, I didn't know how to accomplish it, and even as an adult I struggle with "stuff"--my ideal of owning nothing constantly battling my ingrained belief that "I should have..."

So it was with great excitement that I found the voluntary simplicity community a few years ago. I really believed that they could help me reconcile my ideal with my reality.

Unfortunately, the particular group that I joined was more interested in anti-consumerism than simplicity. In fact, it seemed to me that the lengths that they went to to scrimp and save and recycle and avoid buying anything was actually complicating their lives. It wasn't what I wanted--it just didn't resonant with me. It sounds silly, but one of the great moments of my life came the day that I realized I could throw away a paper clip. Let me explain.

I keep my paperclips in a box behind my desk in my basement office. I live in a three story house. If I came across a loose paperclip anywhere else in the house, I used to hold onto it, keep track of it, put it where I could see it, try to remember it, and eventually make sure it made its way to the box of paperclips behind my desk in my basement office. Not a lot of work, but a lot of mental energy.

Then one day I had a revelation--I realized that I could actually throw away a paper clip. This was unheard of. It wasn't done. It was wasteful. It was irresponsible! Ah, but it was freedom.

That was the kind of simplicity I was looking for, and so I left the group.

I had nearly forgotten all about the movement until I picked up the magazine on Sunday.

Click here for Part 2.

Lesson 21: Self Image

This post is my thoughts on a lesson from the Beyond Freedom home study course for personal growth and life achievement. This course has been instrumental in transforming my life from stress-full to stress-FREE. Order your own copy today at: http://www.LibertyLeague.com/margieremmers And transform YOUR life from where you are now, to where you want to be.

As always, today's Beyond Freedom lesson is a perfect reflection of what is going on in my life at the moment. (How do they do that?)

My 7 year old son struggles with skin rashes--a reaction, apparently, to things in his environment that he is sensitive or allergic to. We have seen multiple doctors and a dermatologist, we use only green household products (laundry detergent, etc.), and we have tried just about every type of ointment on the market, all to no avail.

We finally took him to an alternative medicine doctor (the one I mention in my book), who suggested that there were a number of things we could do with diet to help him.

So I decided (with the family's agreement), that the whole family was going to go on a clean food detox. That is, absolutely no junk and only the healthiest, freshest, most "alive" foods we could get.

I happened to have on my bookshelf Raw Food Life Force Energy by Natalia Rose that I had picked up at Border's for cheap. I had been reading it and thought that at some point it would be a fun experiment to try the 21 day detox plan that it includes.

Well, after the latest trip to the doctor, I realized the time was now.

The interesting thing about this program is that it's not just about eating and exercise--it's about your whole outlook on life and how you behave. Kind of like Beyond Freedom for your body!

The kids and I made journals on our first day to keep track of what we ate, how we liked it, and what we did. The author also provides "homework" each day, which are questions to write or think about.

The other day our homework was "Write down what you would do with your life if no one could criticize or praise you. How would you spend your time? Would you create something? If so, what? Would your life be very different? What does this tell you about how much power you give to other people? Just take a moment to explore this idea. You don't need to have all the answers. Being honest with yourself is the most important part of this exercise."

I wrote the following:

If I could do anything I wanted, I would spend half my time relaxing and enjoying sensual pleasures--the warm sun, the fresh air, a massage, a bike ride, a walk on the beach. The other half of the time I would be using my brain to figure out a solvable problem--pay bills, crunch numbers, work on a website. I would sing and dance whenever and wherever I wanted. I would be excited, happy, joyous, and enthusiastic about every moment of my life.

Then today I opened up my Beyond Freedom. Today's exercise is one of the most difficult in the whole program. In fact, I know many people who have skipped it--not done it or not done it completely because it is so hard.

It involves standing naked in front of a mirror and having a deep and powerful discussion with yourself--asking yourself a series of profound, thought-provoking questions.

One of the questions is "Are you the best possible person you can be?"

As I asked myself this question, my mind returned to my detox journal and my response to what I would choose to do if I were absolutely in control of my own life. I thought about how far I fall short of my own ideal for my life--how my excuses pile up--I'm too tired, I have too much to do, too much responsibility. And I thought about the author's question: "What does this tell you about how much power you give to other people?"

So I asked myself...

Why don't I relax and take time to enjoy the journey? Because I have too much to do. I have too many people relying on me--and I let them. I accept it. I volunteer. I say yes. I take it on.

Why don't I sing and dance wherever and whenever I want? Because other people will think I'm weird, my family will be embarrassed, I will be a social outcast, I will be lonely.

Why am I not excited, happy, joyous, and enthusiastic about every moment of my life? Because I'm too distracted by what I have to do to keep up with my life--to answer to other's people's requirements.

Yes, it's powerful to look and see how much other people control my life.

It was a deep and powerful exercise, and I can't say that I have all the answers. We humans are, after all, a collective group of people working together--and we do rely on each other to learn, grow, and become better people. And I have already agreed to take on my responsibilities. And most of them do, in fact, bring me great joy on some level.

So the answer cannot be to cut out everyone from my life and shirk my responsibilities in one fell swoop.

I suppose, like everything in life, the answer is balance.