New Year's day is a holiday I looked forward to because it meant I was that much closer to being free. Not that I was going to party and have fun with friends.
"Free" meant I was that much closer to being out of whatever cage I was in at the the time.
What I didn't know, though, when I was paying the price for being an addict, is that we can be free, whatever our circumstances. Wherever we are.
But I didn't become aware of that until I became older and a student of mindfulness. Mindfulness practice taught me that I don't have to be a prisoner of my thoughts, of my desires, or my longings. Once I understood that being free is state of mind - I really was free.
Once one learns to meditate we discover that we are no one's prisoner. Once I accepted that the Parole Board might keep me for years if that was their whim - I felt a sense of lightness. Many of my cohorts were full of rage and anger. But I just told myself that I'd been granted a large number of moments in which to improve myself and learn.
Practicing mindfulness means we cling to nothing. We grasp at nothing, because our lives are fine just because we're breathing.
We observe the world and accept it as it is, without judging the thoughts passing through our minds.
That is freedom - and it's nothing new; it's been with as long as we practice it.
