Freedom

This is where peace is.
This is where meaning is.
This is where joy is.
It's all there in the play of the mind,
all there in the action and the progress.
You can look for it all you like,
but you'll never find it except in action.
The life you make is the only life you'll love.

And I know it might hurt to hear that.
I know it can be be a pain to hear life calling.
They talk about freedom and responsibility,
and they're exactly right about it.
Freedom is such a heavy responsibility
that there are days when you want to be rid of it.
It's so much work.
It's such a constant, weary struggle.

But you've got to learn to love the effort.
Love the burn. Love the journey.
Listen, I know they sound like hollow cliches,
but they're true. There's life in them.
We only get stronger by fighting resistance,
and our own resistance is the first we encounter.
Entropy always wins. Things fall apart.
But a human being fights against it to the end.

That's what the man meant when he said
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
You've got to fight back that part of you that wants to die.
It's a liar. It's lazy. It's not you.
You know that life is worth every effort,
and you know that you always have a choice.
Never let them make you forget it.

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(Photo credit: "Uttarayan (Explored)" from Bhavishya Goel on flickr)