This is my third trip to Dakar and my first trip to Goree Island. Seeing the caves (I refuse to call them prisons) that slaves were put in all those years back, the chains and all the other memories of slavery, I really and truly appreciated freedom. I said a prayer of thanks for not being born during those times. Freedom is a gift we freely enjoy, but are we truly free? Does physical freedom really represent freedom? For many are bound not in physical chains, but by mental chains.

“The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. Freedom and slavery are mental states.” – Mahatma Gandhi

The state of one’s mind is created/influenced by external input passed on from our parents (by what they teach us, their actions, mannerisms, beliefs..), through education, society and the world at large. As we age, our ideas and ideals are formed from all the external input we have been exposed to. There is therefore the tendency to view the world based on someone else’s viewpoint or perform a task based on what we have been taught. Often times, there is nothing wrong with approaching life this way. However, basing life on what we were taught in the past opens us up to limitations, and possible unhappiness. The state of one’s mind is heavily influenced by beliefs. If our beliefs are wrong or do not apply to the situation we are in, we are limited and are therefore slaves of our minds.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.” Robert Nesta (Bob) Marley

We are slaves of our mind when all we do is complain about what have not achieved or not being where we ought to be and so on. Complaining or thinking about where one ought to be or what one ought to have achieved have never gotten anyone anywhere. I was privileged to attend OLCA’s Life Coaching Program this year and I can testify to the fact that it helped me to put away certain limiting beliefs I had about myself and life in general.

The key to happiness and achieving our purpose is mental freedom. Mental freedom allows you think, opening your mind to different possibilities and approaches to solving issues or tackling daily affairs. Mental freedom is not given, one has to make the choice to take it. Are you stuck in life? Wondering why things are not working out for you? Wondering why your dreams have not come true? Wondering why it seems to be you against the world? I encourage you to seek mental freedom. You will thank me later.

Please feel free to reach out if you need help achieving mental freedom. I will be hosting a mental freedom webinar in the first quarter of 2017. Kindly comment below or send an email to trimandfettle@gmail.com to sign up.