3 Tips By Meera Gandhi To Cultivate Freedom In Our Lives

Make choices consciously: Be aware of your choices. When we make a choice, we determine whether that action, word or thought is going to set us free or bind us. Choose wisely.

Let go: We simply cannot control everything. When we realize that there is a power greater than us, we allow ourselves a certain freedom to exist.

Practise santosha: Santosha is a feeling of contentment; contentment sets us free.

The universe often chooses for us, but we also make choices and carve out a path to reach our destination. This is the freedom presented to all of us. The question is: how will we use it? Most of my life I have felt like I needed to control things. Then COVID-19 happened, and I realized that we don’t really control anything. However, if we stay calm and content, we will be able to make the correct choices for ourselves. This, in turn, will be good for the universe as we are all connected. This awareness has brought me a sense of freedom, a freedom I can experience while being connected to everything.

As I look back on my life, it is clear the good choices we make in the moment with our consciousness intact lead to the best outcomes. In 2011, I was in London, and my ex-husband and I were planning to attend a birthday party in Europe. The day before we were to leave, my son, who was in boarding school, fell ill with a high fever. I drove to his boarding school to pick him up and bring him home.

Despite our friends insisting that we attend the birthday party, I decided to stay home in London and take care of my son while my ex-husband went to the birthday party in Germany. I was home to tend to my son, even though there was a lot of pressure to go. This conscious choice proved to be the right one to make. My son’s fever soon subsided with medicine, rest and home-cooked meals. Three days later, he was strong and ready to go back to school. Had I not stayed back, he might not have recovered so quickly.

This is such a simple anecdote, but through it we all can reflect on the many choices we have made in our life. Make self-aware choices and they will usually prove to be correct!