The Importance of Freedom in Gaining Self-Identity
Meaning, Self, and Freedom
Having meaning and a sense of self is not important when making an attempt to pursue actual freedom. The question of “Who am I?’ and “Why am I here” are ones a lot of people tend to ask themselves. Most people’s goal in life is to try to find or have a main purpose in life or try to find meaning in life. I find that unnecessary. People should not be spending their whole lives trying to find “meaning" or try to find their “sense of self. While trying to do that, they are missing out on just experiencing life as is and being free. It is possible to have no clue of who you are or what you want and still be free.
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People often try to find a purpose in life in order to have some type of structure. However, when people think they found what they are supposed to do with their lives, they put themselves in a box and they limit themselves. They tend to not to do or try certain things because it steers away from who they are actually supposed to be or what they are supposed to be doing with their lives. By doing this, they are missing out on all the other opportunities in life and stopping themselves from pursuing true freedom.
People have gone and will go through life without having or knowing what their purpose in life is. Some of those people have lived very successful lives (and those that did not, I am pretty sure it is not because they thought their lives were without purpose). The one thing these people did have, regardless if they had purpose or not, was freedom. Without freedom, for people who do want to find meaning in life, how do they expect to do that if they don’t have the freedom to do so. I would say that you would have to have freedom in order to even pursue a meaning in life if you wanted to.
You have to have freedom in order to have meaning, but you do not need to have meaning in order to have freedom. I also feel that is okay to not have a meaning in life. It puts up boundaries. People should just live life and do whatever makes them feel happy and free. Everything in life is a choice and you have the freedom to do whatever you life. You are not obligated to have a purpose.
Some people base their course in life based on what other people expect them to do. “ The individual experiences himself from other standpoints of other members of the same social group.” (Mead). People base their actions and sometimes even their thoughts on how other people view them. This also puts a barrier on people's lives because they are letting other people determine their course in life and they do not actually get to experience what they want for themselves. Therefore, stopping them from being free.
I would not say having meaning in life is pointless, I just do not think it is absolutely necessary. Some people follow different religions and therefore some of them have a certain purpose in life based on that religion, and some, not at all. I also feel like religion puts people in a box because then they have to follow a certain set of rules in life and they do not have the freedom to do what they genuinely want to do. Also, when people follow a certain religion ( especially when they are forced to ), their meaning in life is basically determined for them.
People have the freedom or liberty to choose what they want to do with their lives, whether it is to find a purpose or not. Having a purpose does not determine the outcome of how successful a person would be in life. It also will not determine their happiness. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you are free and that you actually have the power to choose to do what you want with your life.
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