How to be happy: 'Choosing to be unfree'

The flower in the top image is a 'morning glory'.
Its flower language is 'bond'.

It may sound like the exact opposite of freedom, but
people cannot live without being bound to something.

That is precisely why
I believe it is important to choose what kind of bonds you have.

♧♣︎

The other day, I was playing tag with my children.

It was a peaceful afternoon on a day off.

I ran away.

I ran with all my might.

But I was caught.

And without a trial,
I was sentenced to one hour of hard labor.
How unreasonable.

The prison was our living room sofa.

And to my surprise,
the children even set a timer on the iPad.

No destruction of evidence or parole was allowed.

I ended up serving my time on the sofa.

Furthermore, I was assigned labor while serving my sentence.

The job was to put on their socks.

As the prisoner, I was
putting socks on my children, who were the guards.

What a humiliation.

'This foot now'
'Next, this one'
The instructions kept coming.

I obeyed in silence.

I was betting on the possibility of a sentence reduction.

However,
no matter how diligently I worked, my sentence
did not get shorter.

It hardly feels like a nation governed by law.

I am an adult.

Normally,
I could walk.
I could open the refrigerator.
I could read a book.

But,
the moment I decided to follow the rules,
I became unable to move from the sofa.

It is a strange thing.

You only realize what freedom is
after you have lost it.

I don't usually think about it, but

being able to walk freely.
Being able to read books freely.
Being able to meet the people you want to meet freely.
Being able to think about what you like freely.

None of these are things to be taken for granted.

When you think about it,
adults are also bound by many things.

Work.
Money.
Public perception.
Common sense.
The assumption that 'this is how things should be'.

Of course, some of these are necessary.

But,
I feel that among them, there are things
you can actually choose again for yourself.

Freedom might not be
a state of being bound by nothing, but
a state where you can choose your own lack of freedom.

Going to work.
Reading a book.
Cherishing someone.

When you feel that you are choosing these things yourself,
I feel you can become a little freer.

By the way, after finishing my one-hour sentence,
I was safely released.

I can stand up.
I can walk.
I can open the refrigerator.

Freedom is wonderful.

But now I think,

that time spent in prison
will likely become a fond memory in a few years.

Freedom is important.

However,
the lack of freedom caused by being pushed around by children
is not bad at all.

Rather,
being able to choose such a lack of freedom
is what happiness is all about.

Books that influenced me in writing this article

'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho

What is true freedom?
What does it mean to choose your own life?
It was a book that posed such questions through its story.

It is a story about traveling far away, but after reading it, you will want to re-examine where you stand.
I highly recommend it.

I have also compiled other 'ways to be happy' flowers
at the link below.
Please take as much as you need🍀

Thank you for reading until the end.
I hope to see you in another article.
🍀May you be happy🍀