Freedom

What was strong this morning while I was washing up was the word freedom.  It seems to me I have it in spades here.  I am free to declare what I see as a perceived injustice.  In many places I would be hunted down and silenced if I tried.  It is weird to me how I can be blinded to or take for granted the freedoms I enjoy.  It is not necessarily good to compare but it really does seem appropriate to answer to my complaints “such a first world problem.”
I remember thinking as a kid that any country that needs to keep its people in is not free.  North Korea is a classic example to me these days.  People in general are not allowed to leave.  To try to do so is courting death.  That has got to be a prison.
Which leads to another freedom I do not take for granted.  Freedom from imprisonment.  I could have been born anyone.  It is not like before I was born I said “I choose that one.”  I was born into a good family in a good place.  That alone does not guarantee I turn out good, but it sure beats the alternative.
There could well come a time that changes.  If what I hold to is unacceptable then I may be imprisoned for it.  But right now, that to me would be imprisonment on the outside while on the inside I would remain free.  I am one to make hay while the sun shines.  If what I hold to holds true (and nothing has convinced me that it will not) then there will come a time when the freedoms I enjoy now will be a thing of the past.
In the meantime though I do not want to use my freedom to upset others unnecessarily.   There are many who hold different views to me.  I am not big on spruking an opinion as I know for any I hold, there is sure to be an opposite view.  To me the person matters most.  I will weigh up what I feel in the light of anyone’s thoughts on a matter but to me disagreeing need not mean a break in relationship.
All this is a fine line.  Fortunately those I associate with are like minded.  A friend of a mate is don here on holidays.  I have only met him a couple of times but he saw me wearing a cowboys shirt.  Next thing I know he is giving me a cowboys supports shirt.  Turns out his bro owns a dealership in Townsville and they get corporate boxes and gear all the time.  Going to Townsville and seeing a Cowboys game is on Merril and my bucket list.  We have been invited to a game as their guest.  In a word.  Yahoo.
Freedom is a hard one to put my finger on, but I know for me being free on the inside trumps anything else on offer.