{"id":5435,"date":"2016-09-27T05:58:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T12:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/\/?p=5435"},"modified":"2023-03-22T10:11:01","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T10:11:01","slug":"how-to-be-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/how-to-be-free\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best way to be free…<\/p>\n

A close\u00a0friend confided “why wait” got into her head a year ago. It was something I’d been telling her all these years, and a dear friend of hers was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

My friend\u00a0had spontaneously\u00a0got on a\u00a0plane to spend a few days in Florida with her 2 children.\u00a0She loves to travel, and wants more fun in her life.<\/p>\n

She noticed it’s here where\u00a0she feels free<\/em><\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ahhh..to be free from doing what we’re supposed to do. From the expectations of others, the status quo, from needing to please, accommodate, settle. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trust and go.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a tiny powerful mind shift in facing the limited<\/em> time we all\u00a0have.<\/p>\n

We don’t want erratic, lack of responsibility, “regret it later” experiences, nor the stress of “OMG \u2014 time is running out, I have to go go go” where you\u00a0can’t even enjoy it.<\/p>\n

But reaching out of your\u00a0comfort zone into the\u00a0kind of\u00a0freedom that lets go of controlling, figuring things out first, and needing others to show up ‘your way’ \u00a0– that<\/em> feeds your\u00a0soul.<\/p>\n

Ask anyone what they cherish, and you’ll hear “friends, and family”.<\/p>\n

Relationships are what matter most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My friend\u00a0shared that she’d wait\u00a0around for her husband’s vacation time, and\u00a0sometimes they didn’t\u00a0end up going anywhere. Plus, planning\u00a0a vacation took so much time.<\/p>\n

Why not just go? Spend time together at\u00a0unexpected times in your best way possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

I could SO relate. Not waiting anymore.<\/p>\n

I’d given that up a while back\u00a0being married to an A-type corporate\u00a0executive where I used to plan everything we did around his schedule. Maybe\u00a0you can relate?<\/p>\n

One day I made a decision:\u00a0“I’m just going\u2026whether you can come or not.” It started out small. Can’t make it for the family outing we planned?\u00a0We went anyway.<\/p>\n

I had to let go of any resentment I held that he couldn’t make it, and step into the sadness that he ended up\u00a0missing out.<\/p>\n

Same for the school musical our daughter had a big part in. Our son’s drum recital..it’s a choice in life we make that time will not wait. I cannot choose for him.<\/p>\n

I encourage him to visit\u00a0the places he \u00a0travels around the world, (he\u00a0could easily\u00a0fill all his hours with work, and leave no time for fun), but that was up to him.<\/p>\n

A few years ago\u00a0I also found myself headed to Florida over Spring break with our girls to visit his<\/em> parents, and\u00a0Disney – without him. His sister – a 6 hour drive away in Ottawa could join\u00a0us\u00a0with her girls.<\/p>\n

The memories from this trip with their cousins, my girls will remember forever\u2026<\/p>\n

What if I had\u00a0waited?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"img_0393\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At first it felt a little unfair to my husband, but I was done\u00a0waiting for his schedule to fit into ours.<\/p>\n

I gave myself permission to stop waiting.<\/p>\n

I knew this freedom<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Time\u00a0won’t wait. These cousins\u00a0have a special bond, and\u00a0at those\u00a0ages sharing that experience together only came around ONCE, and\u00a0I\u00a0took it. There’s no going back.<\/p>\n

My hubby\u00a0wasn’t angry or upset, but the\u00a0next\u00a0Spring break\u00a0he somehow managed to join us in Florida with little effort on my part. Following\u00a0what I cherish\u00a0has\u00a0a\u00a0bonus feature: I\u00a0no longer have to try so hard to make things work the next time : )<\/p>\n

Being the Change – it really works.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s when the universe starts to move in the same direction you’ve firmly embodied \u00a0– when\u00a0you decide “it’s time”.<\/p>\n

It’s\u00a0been a practice to live my life this way. This in no way means\u00a0disrespecting anyone, or being\u00a0demanding or selfish. It’s what most of us fear, which keeps us stuck.<\/p>\n

When you\u00a0simply follow your\u00a0inner voice that’s true for you – your soul\u00a0knows what you value.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s the ones who do not follow this in their own life where you run into obstacles. There is no resonance here.<\/p>\n

Those\u00a0who care about you deep down want you to be happy, as much as you want that for them. But they also must be choosing for themselves what’s valuable to them so they have the strength to give this space to you.<\/p>\n

Give and receive. Not demand, and expect.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you start to feel like you’re sacrificing your joy for their circumstances, beliefs, or a perspective\u00a0that’s different to yours – resentment builds you will have to release.<\/p>\n

Following your inner voice<\/a> lets you be free of an inner peace of mind. Not following the rules becomes normal. Your best decisions arrive faster.<\/p>\n

Life feels\u00a0in flow.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m still someone who likes things organized. I don’t like being hit with unwanted\u00a0surprises that\u00a0could have me doing the unthinkable:\u00a0wasting\u00a0my time! There’s a practical side of me that’s been merged with “if it feels right, go for it”, and don’t look back.<\/p>\n

Somewhere between spontaneity, and\u00a0being willing to face whatever rough waters you thought were stopping you in the first place is the\u00a0FLOW of living true to yourself.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The clock ticks louder the moment a loved one\u00a0faces a life threatening illness or has lost\u00a0their life.\u00a0Live as if it’s your last day isn’t the way we wake up in the morning, but we all know this – today could be it. We just don’t all do something\u00a0about it.<\/p>\n

What are you waiting for exactly? Is it worth trying to make it perfect before you get to experience it? Can you make this moment special? It may never come again. How can you make it so valuable\u00a0you’ll take it with you forever?<\/p>\n

I trust myself more, and more as I keep stepping out further into what I most treasure, and who I know myself to be. Freedom. It’s here where you attract, and build the few sacred connections\u00a0you can\u00a0trust fully where there are no secrets.<\/p>\n

The more I did exactly what I wanted, I noticed that I was silently giving other people permission to do the same. It’s been secretly fun to witness.<\/p>\n

Those who accept you for exactly who you are when you are not afraid to follow what most matters to you are yours forever.<\/p>\n

It’s\u00a0the beauty of living\u00a0your truth:\u00a0love surrounds\u00a0you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trusting what you desire comes from a place of self-love. It arrived when I stopped waiting for others, and set myself free. Are you still waiting? Trust, go for it and be free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best way to be free… A close\u00a0friend confided “why wait” got into her head a year ago. It was something I’d been telling her all these years, and a dear friend of hers was diagnosed with cancer. My friend\u00a0had spontaneously\u00a0got on a\u00a0plane to spend a few days in Florida with her 2 children.\u00a0She loves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,58,59,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-authenticity-truth","category-faith-letting-go","category-freedom-forgiveness","category-love-connection"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9372,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions\/9372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolynhidalgo.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}