Its About Freedom

When I was in college, a good friend told me about a book that I needed to read. The book contrasted what we perceive as financial safety with what true financial safety really looks like.

For many, safety looks like going to college, getting your education, stepping into a career, getting married, buying a house, having children when you're ready, then retiring at 65 to live out the rest of your life in perceived comfort.

That book was called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Written by Robert Kiyosaki. The book was a story comparing his real dad, the supposed "poor" dad, who had it all together from an outsider's perspective, and his "rich" dad, who in real life was his best friend's dad, who looked like he had nothing but taught him how to invest and make money.

The "poor" dad, a government employee who later in life ran for lieutenant governor against his boss, ended up losing everything because he lost the race and couldn't get a job anymore. The "rich" dad used life's negatives and turned them into lessons, learned from those lessons, and became one of the wealthiest real estate investors in Hawaii.

I read this book around the age of 20, and it has shaped me into who I am today. Not because I took the route of real estate investor, or because I decided it wouldn't be a good idea to run for office, but because I discovered what many people might only see as a pipe dream.

Freedom.

Freedom is something that many people see as a dream. A faraway place, or something only the rich can achieve.

For me, freedom meant so much more than an investment portfolio or being the landlord to multiple tenants.

Freedom meant that I could choose what I wanted my life to look like.

Freedom meant that I could choose when I wanted to wake up in the morning and when I went to bed.

Freedom meant that I could take a vacation whenever I wanted to, and I did not have to request time off from work.

Freedom meant that I could decide what I wanted instead of someone else telling me what I had to have.

This also meant that there were times I worked 15- and 20-hour days just to make ends meet.

This also meant that I missed many of my boys' baseball games, or that I missed out on a dance recital.

This also meant that while others were developing long-lasting friendships on the weekends, I was working through a bad business decision to recover my losses, or putting in more hours on a job so that I could learn how to complete a job that I sold but had no idea how to complete.

Freedom isn't always easy!

Freedom has its complications.

Freedom has its challenges and also many rewards.

I discovered freedom while reading this book because I realized that in life, there are no losses, only lessons.

I discovered that freedom wasn't just about having enough money to retire.

Freedom was the ability to choose. Freedom was the option for me to decide the outcome. I didn't have to go the path of everyone around me. Instead, I could create my own path. My own journey. My own destination.

Often we are asked the question, "If you had the choice to go back to high school, would you go back, and what would you do differently?"

When I hear this question, the first thing that comes to mind is, "I would dominate in sports!" I would do those things all over again and be a better athlete. I would spend more time in the gym and practice more. In reality, I wouldn't change anything. Well, maybe I would erase some of the bad decisions, just like we all would, but I wouldn't change my journey at all. I wouldn't change the journey because of the lessons that I learned.

Freedom is never easy, but when you choose freedom, you are choosing to be the ultimate decision maker in your life. You get to say, "I did that," when you accomplish something big, but it also means you get to say, "I can't believe I did that," when you make a bad decision.

The beauty of freedom is that I get to decide what my life will look like. I'm not tied to a job or a career. I'm not married to a location or a way of living.

Freedom can come in many different forms and in many different areas of life.

Freedom means you get to decide how and where you worship.

Freedom means you get to decide what type of work you do and how long you do it.

Freedom means you get to decide how much money you want to make and how you want to spend it.

Freedom means you don't need a government or a politician to tell you how to live your life.

Freedom means you get to decide the relationships that you cultivate and the ones you don't.

Freedom means you are behind the wheel and no one can tell you the destination. Only you know.

To many, this may look like a crazy person who has no idea what they are doing.

But...

To me, this looks like having visited over 30 nations before the age of 50.

To me, this looks like having heart-to-heart conversations about God with well-known celebrities because I'm not so starstruck that I stumble over my words.

To me, this looks like having dinner at the White House, or having conversations around the dinner table about the conversations that were had with the President last week.

To me, this looks like a midnight movie in the middle of the week because I would rather stay up with my wife or kids.

To me, this looks like having lunch with a friend to discuss a mission trip and booking a flight to the Middle East later that night.

To me, this means I get to decide if I want to vote for a candidate who is on the ballot, or if I want to leave the ballot blank.

Ultimately, freedom is the option to decide what I want to do in every situation, in every decision, and in everything I do.

Freedom has brought me before kings, and freedom has cost me many relationships.

Freedom has taught me that whatever we do, wherever we go, and whoever we come in contact with, we all have a choice.

Will you choose freedom? Or will you choose the illusion of something that was always designed to keep you trapped? Trapped in your religion. Trapped in your money. Trapped in your career. Trapped in the city you live in.

I can say with the highest level of confidence that when you choose freedom, even though it's not always easy, it tastes sweeter, and you will always win!