While living in Washington, D.C., I’d park my car, run up 58 steps and be in awe at the towering and erect presence of one of the great men who founded the United States of America. Thomas Jefferson also served as our third President from 1801 to 1809.
I sometimes visited the Jefferson Memorial late at night when I could be alone in this hallowed sanctum. It was possible to do because it’s open around the clock.
Standing amidst the white marble steps and building, my eyes would gaze at the 129′ bronze statue as well as excerpts of the Declaration of Independence, whose principal author was Jefferson.
However, the reason I kept returning was to slowly turn in a circle to read the inscription under the dome:
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800.
I didn’t realize at the time how these words, which still bring tears to my eyes, would be emblazoned within me. They inspired my lifetime passion, “upon the altar of God,” to help others and myself live in freedom through liberation of the “tyranny over the mind of man.”
The definition of tyranny includes the oppression, often cruel, of people or a government over others. Another aspect is an unreasonable or arbitrary use of power or control.
For me, there’s a twist to this. It reminds me of a quote by American Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in 1813. Most famously, it was quipped by cartoonist Walt Kelly on a couple of Earth Day posters when Pogo said:
The voice in your head, motivated by an insecure ego, can be your enemy and create the greatest form of tyranny.
These inner rants can be cruel, unreasonable, oppressive and arbitrary. If you allow this to dominate, you relinquish control of your life.
Know that you have thepower of choice!
You can choose to listen to your inner guidance, your Essence, instead.
Especially those familiar with my teachings about “choosing,” you might be interested in this. When I was thirty years old, I had the first sentence of the following quote by Jefferson on a wall plate of a light switch:
“Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice, and the exercise of choice, a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing.”
Pondering this message regularly, I knew there was more to it than I could understand at the time. I’m now aware of this:
We are free to choose. We are so free, we can choose fear or freedom.
We choose our thoughts, which impact our emotions, which create our lives. What hinders our freedom is allowing our minds to be tyrannized by any limiting beliefs. From anyone. From any circumstance or condition. From the tyrannical inner voice.
A client showed me a picture of a tow truck driver who quickly and skillfully used multiple cables to turn upright a parked truck that had been hit by a car and had completely flipped over.
The driver was very good-natured, and his demeanor radiated a cheerful attitude and peace.
Both of his arms stopped below his elbows.
He had a prosthetic leg, too.
He is a living demonstration of choosing his attitude and outlook on life. He wasn’t tyrannized by his physical condition and whatever caused it.
We in America celebrate our country’s birthday on the Fourth of July, our Independence Day. It’s a time of freedom.
While talking with others about a life-changing break for freedom from a highly abusive relationship I made during the week of July 4th when I was 20, others shared their stories of freedom that happened around this time, too.
Soon, the French will celebrate their day of freedom on July 14, Bastille Day.
Tyranny or freedom?
You can choose to hold in your mind’s eye the freedom and intentions that our forefathers envisioned while founding the United States.
What freedom and independence do you choose for you?
Start with freeing yourself from the tyranny of your mind, where nothing and nobody can touch you.
P.S. Know someone who might
enjoy reading this? Please forward.
I work with people
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I help them live life more fully,
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and be richly compensated doing what
they love.
Looking for freedom from anything
that may be tyrannizing you?
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Original Soulgoals’ blog posted on July 3, 2017
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Tags: Declaration of Independence, Founding father, Freedom is the right to choose, Jefferson Memorial, Power of choice, Thomas Jefferson, We have met the enemy and he is us
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