Much has been written about our national identity and the freedoms provided (or not provided) by our Constitution. This may lead you to believe that our Founding Fathers granted us something novel, but the truth is that, as thinking and acting humans, we’ve always had our individual freedom.
In the context of your own personal life trajectory, you are free to make your own choices – even if it may not always feel that way.
It’s a level of responsibility that we’re not always comfortable with.
How those choices play out or how society (or your group, or your employer, or the establishment) view and react to those choices may vary, but the fact remains that free will is real, and you have it.
Ideally, everyone is afforded the same opportunity to express those freedoms and in turn people choose to express them in ways that support just and positive outcomes. Unfortunately, that is not always the case – even if some may believe their choices to be that way.
Even that does not diminish the truth that you have personal and individual freedom of choice, too. Use it – wisely if possible.
It’s a powerful and essential part of being human.