For those of us who live in the U.S. or are U.S. citizens living abroad, the "unofficial" start of July is Independence Day on July 4th.   And on that day, we can't help but be reminded of "freedom."

First and foremost, I want to take this opportunity to honor our forefathers by thanking them for not giving up hope as they struggled for the independence of our great nation.  They had to overcome tremendous obstacles during the War of Independence, but their faith in God and their commitment to what they were fighting for helped overcome Great Britain, the most powerful nation in the world at that time.  Their vision and faith in what we, as a nation, stand for is what keeps me and, I believe, all of us, moving forward, even when we are confronted by the obstacles of war and natural disasters. As the saying goes: "Keep the Faith!"

There was stickball, handball, surfing, swimming and, especially, harassing our older brothers while they were trying to be cool and flirt with the girls they liked.  (Of course, at the same time, we were also discovering girls.)  At lunch time, when all of our families were at the beach, my gang of friends each took turns raiding each other's refrigerators.  Most of the fun was in sneaking around.  There were times we were busted while in the act of helping ourselves and our parents would just say, "Make sure you put everything away when you're finished."  On rainy days, we would spend entire days playing cards and board games like Monopoly^®.

It felt like we didn't have to answer to anyone.  Now strictly speaking, obviously we had to listen to our parents, but somehow it seemed that they gave us a lot of slack during those magical summers.   It was a time freedom, fun and independence.

Then something strange happened.  As I grew older, the length of those summers of independence grew smaller and smaller.  I eventually had to work during the summer months and then go back to school in September.  And eventually I had to work all year round.  

I took a different route than most people.  Instead of college, I embarked on a religious path and lived a secluded life in an ashram for several years.  Although I didn't know it at the time, this was the most important time in my life.  I left the ashram after a few years and, like most of us, I married, had children and was a dedicated husband and employee for some time.  I became sidetracked for a while by my disease of addiction but, when I sobered up, I got right back on track with the responsibilities of my life.

If not for my time in the ashram and all that I began to learn there about freedom and Self Realization, I would think my life to be one of dependence.

From the outside, it would seem that we are stuck.  We have to work every day to put our children through school, pay our bills, and sustain ourselves.  If we lost our job, what would we do?

I can see how one might become engulfed in fear and overwhelmed by life.  Life can easily suck you into becoming entangled and overcome by jobs, people and things.  You want the best for your family and if you work harder, you get noticed, you receive promotions and pay raises and you are given more and weightier responsibilities.  As you receive more income and spend less time at home because of you new responsibilities, you might try to compensate by giving more things to the family to make up for the smaller amount of time you are able to spend with them at home.  For example, you might just want to treat yourself and your family a bigger home, a second car, an extravagant vacation, etc.

But as we all know, the more toys and wonderful things we buy, the more debt we sink into, and the more dependent we become to our jobs and our income.

It doesn't take very long to lose sight of the simple things in life that made us happy and fulfilled us.

There is nothing at all wrong with becoming successful; of wanting to provide a life for our family that is better than we experienced as we grew up.  But it is important for us to remember that happiness is an inside job.  All the shiny bells and whistles that are on the outside are nice, but you will not maintain happiness with them.

It's wonderful to be able to give our children nice things and provide a higher education for them, and to give our spouses nice gifts.  But the real gift and education comes from teaching them what makes us happy inside.

What makes us happy inside is when we can always have an open heart.  That is true FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE.  In the midst of bliss and calamity, to have an open heart is to taste eternal happiness and independence.

So join me over the next couple of weeks at the Ah-Man Blog, where I will talk about how to start to find freedom and independence from work, debt, resentments and fears.  I also encourage you to let me know how you have been able to find freedom in your lives.