True Freedom
Written by Paul Landis Delaune
My soul leaps for joy and shouts Yippee! when I get up in the
morning. I don’t like
staying in bed
long because I can’t do much except talk on the phone or just lay there
lost in thought.
But once I’m in my wheelchair there is so much I can do. I can
move around;
sit at my desk reading, writing, being on my computer; go into the living
room and watch
TV or play my stereo; or go outside. Being in my wheelchair is my
freedom.
The main lesson I have learned from being paralyzed is that true freedom
isn’t
determined
by one’s physical circumstances. Instead it’s a state of mind. When one
is free in one’s
mind, then one is freer than the birds that fly through the air. I belong
to
the board of
directors of the local center for independent living, which assist people
who have disabilities
to be more independent. Ed Roberts, the founder of the independent
living movement,
lived almost all his life in an iron lung, yet he experienced the true
meaning of freedom
moreso than many people who have no severe physical limitation.
Once I believed true freedom was only possible by living as independently
as
I could be.
This meant being employed and earning a salary to support myself. For years
that was my
dream. I studied long and hard to achieve that goal. Little did I know
that
obtaining employment
would be next to impossible and never would I earn a salary
that would enable
me to pay the regular expenses of housing, utilities and food as well as
the extra cost
of paying people to do my personal care.
The day came when I turned to studying material regarding the spirit and
soul, and
my life changed.
My goal shifted from a focus of trying to obtain something outside of
myself to complete
my life to seeking to enhance my peace of mind from within, from
my spirit. The
shift in perspective didn’t occur overnight it took months, years even,
and the shift
wasn’t necessarily easy. But it was a shift I was destined to make.
It has been a slow process, but I am no longer the person I was when I
started. I see
the world through
different eyes, a world that has changed for me as my view of
myself and life
shifted. Now I know we live in an interdependent world, an
interdependent
society. The wealthy people of this world need you and me to buy
their products
for them to have what they do just as I need their taxes to pay for
the programs
that enable me to live outside of an institution. Interdependence rules.
Sometimes I’m amazed by the contradictions in life. For example: once an
aide, who
did my personal
care, said to me, Paul, when I look in your refrigerator, I don’t see
anything, yet
you always have food to eat. But when I look in my refrigerator at home,
i
t’s full, but
I can’t find anything to eat. I may not be a wealthy man, but I am
happy. A
couple of my
close friends have told me that I am a rich man. Freedom, happiness, peace
of mind it all
comes from within. Find these within yourself and you will be rich, too.