Constraint is the ultimate freedom

Motivational speakers in South Africa, Jacques de Villiers writes about freedom.

Jacques de Villiers – writing quest: Article 51/365

You’ve probably heard the expression, ‘think outside the box’. That’s a bit of a stretch for most of us because we can’t even think inside the box, and when there’s no box, we can’t think at all. 

Constraint has a negative connotation, implying limitation and restriction. There’s nothing we value more than freedom. We seek not to be fettered by customs, rules and laws.

I play in the spiritual and metaphysical realm, where it is common to believe in concepts like “letting go,” “going with the flow,” “everything happens for a reason,” “submitting and surrendering,” “let go, let God” “meditating,” “praying,” and “manifesting.”

There’s a sense of the unfettered and of freedom.

We admire those that can colour outside the lines, think outside the box and break with convention. However, even the most unconventional are constrained by immutable laws, without which even they couldn’t function. 

Constraints provide us with a clear sense of direction. And, that direction can lead us to the freedom we so value.

Even the most enlightened, past and present, are constrained and work to a set of rules. Prayer has rules, meditation has rules and sitting like a guru on the mountaintop holding the light for the world has rules. 

When I have the freedom to draw anything on a blank canvas, I find it difficult because there are too many options. I become paralysed because I don’t know in which direction to go. 

If you’ve ever gone to a restaurant where the menu has hundreds of choices, you’ll know what I mean. It takes much longer to make a choice. But when you go to a restaurant that has five items on the menu, it takes a lot quicker to make a choice, doesn’t it?

Sometimes the world seems rudderless, chaotic and broken. But if we look carefully, we’ll see that there’s an unfathomable intelligence and divine direction in literally everything that happens. 

And, if you treat life as a game, which it is, then knowing the rules can help you win the game. 

Constraints are not the enemy of freedom. Freedom is the enemy of freedom.

If you don’t believe me, let’s ask the moon to untether itself from our earth. We’d become unmoored and free of the constraint, and that would be downright disastrous.

There’s no freedom without form. And, there’s no form without constraints.