{"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\u2026<\/p>\n

A close\u00a0friend confided \u201cwhy wait\u201d got into her head a year ago. It was something I\u2019d 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\u2019s here where\u00a0she feels free<\/em><\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ahhh..to be free from doing what we\u2019re 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\u2019s a tiny powerful mind shift in facing the limited<\/em> time we all\u00a0have.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t want erratic, lack of responsibility, \u201cregret it later\u201d experiences, nor the stress of \u201cOMG \u2014 time is running out, I have to go go go\u201d where you\u00a0can\u2019t 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 \u2018your way\u2019 \u00a0\u2013 that<\/em> feeds your\u00a0soul.<\/p>\n

Ask anyone what they cherish, and you\u2019ll hear \u201cfriends, and family\u201d.<\/p>\n

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

My friend\u00a0shared that she\u2019d wait\u00a0around for her husband\u2019s vacation time, and\u00a0sometimes they didn\u2019t\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\u2019d 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\u201cI\u2019m just going\u2026whether you can come or not.\u201d It started out small. Can\u2019t 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\u2019t 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\u2019s drum recital..it\u2019s 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 \u2013 without him. His sister \u2013 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\u2019t wait. These cousins\u00a0have a special bond, and\u00a0at those\u00a0ages sharing that experience together only came around ONCE, and\u00a0I\u00a0took it. There\u2019s no going back.<\/p>\n

My hubby\u00a0wasn\u2019t 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 \u2013 it really works.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the universe starts to move in the same direction you\u2019ve firmly embodied \u00a0\u2013 when\u00a0you decide \u201cit\u2019s time\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0been a practice to live my life this way. This in no way means\u00a0disrespecting anyone, or being\u00a0demanding or selfish. It\u2019s what most of us fear, which keeps us stuck.<\/p>\n

When you\u00a0simply follow your\u00a0inner voice that\u2019s true for you \u2013 your soul\u00a0knows what you value.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019re sacrificing your joy for their circumstances, beliefs, or a perspective\u00a0that\u2019s different to yours \u2013 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\u2019m still someone who likes things organized. I don\u2019t like being hit with unwanted\u00a0surprises that\u00a0could have me doing the unthinkable:\u00a0wasting\u00a0my time! There\u2019s a practical side of me that\u2019s been merged with \u201cif it feels right, go for it\u201d, and don\u2019t 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\u2019s your last day isn\u2019t the way we wake up in the morning, but we all know this \u2013 today could be it. We just don\u2019t 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\u2019ll 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s\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\u2026 A close\u00a0friend confided \u201cwhy wait\u201d got into her head a year ago. It was something I\u2019d 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}]}}