Absolute liberty is absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself. -Henry Brook Adams
To sit on Ellis Island and Liberty Island, it is practically impossible to avoid thinking about the concept of liberty. I spent lunch underneath the watchful eye and welcoming arms of Lady Liberty herself today, and it was beautiful to literally soak up shade from the quintessential monument of liberty itself.
I love what Henri Frederic Amiel, 19th Century Swiss philosopher links liberty and challenges in relationship that I just love. He said that “conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one’s liberty.” For me, conquering the difficulty of disordered eating and distorted body image has given me freedom and liberty that extends beyond a secret joy. And, since absolute liberty is absence of restraint, I now live with absolute internal liberty so deep that the only way I can now live is by being fully, 100% and unabashedly myself.
We can all live in absence of restraint. Be yourself and the chains that are holding you back in life will start to unshackle. You are the only one that is responsible for making the decision to be fully alive, so take charge, think of Lady Liberty, and just be you.