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Modern slaves.

One day, you get tired of yourself, of the drabness of your dark room, of being your own jailer. Yes, the worst prisons have their bars woven according to the blue print of canned ideas, prejudices or cowardice, imposed by alien, ancestral fear. Or by someone else. The time has come for you to try your wings that have never been used. You, then, launch yourself in an absurd flight towards the colorful depths and illuminated heights of an unknown, fantastic universe that unveils before you according to your lightness, courage and boldness. This is what happens when you become the main character of your life. The power, the magic, the enchantment are yours, take them back!

Sometimes we are prisoners of ideas that have been imposed upon us, and we simply take them for granted out of fear or accommodation; some other times we are subjected to people and, for some reason, we are not able to react to the domination we allow to happen. In fact, people have upon you the power you grant them. To understand this simple idea is to see yourself strong before the mirror of life.

The decision of being emotionally independent, of acting according to your will, is essential on the wonderful road of freedom. To give up on your consciousness is to pass on to someone else the central axis of your life. When we give up experiencing the best there is within ourselves, we deprive the world of something unique, as no two beings are alike. You are unique, and in it lies your beauty.

To accept as normal that some people have power over others is to believe that some people are born just to please and serve other people. These are medieval concepts History has left behind for being ludicrous. However, the desire for domination is still there, due to atavism, ignorance of bad faith, causing many to bow, as modern slaves, whether affectively or socially.

The fear is in the root of such stultifying behavior that leads a person to annul him/herself before another, or before everyone. The silent fear that the truth will end the marriage or romance, of being fired or discriminated against in the job, of losing a friend or being cast out from a social group, all of which hampers your ability to exert your full potential. It is like being happy being just half of who we are.

Everyone wants to be accepted, loved, admired. Deep down, no one reveres the weak. At best, one feels pity and sorry for them. In the worst case scenario, they are despised and belittled. No one knows the name of an extra in a film. History does not focus on the cowards.

Threats of disowning, being fired, or moral debts sneakily created to prevent payment are some of the tricks of modern slave owners. Their whips effectively lashing. Do you know anyone like that? If in past times the power of law imposed such submission, today there are slaves who are not able to break the emotional fetters that bind them to preposterous desires of other people. Of course, they are, all, unhappy, victims and slave drivers, no exceptions. Dictators, regardless of scale, are tormented people.

Freedom, however, is not a concession, it is an achievement. One does not ask for it, one imposes it. Only you can sign your own letter of manumission.

If talking and acting according to what you believe leads to divorce, or being fired, or an end to friendship, or to temper tantrums, or to grimaces, the better. That shows that the relationship was based on domination, lies, abuse, pain. Certainly you will not miss what you are leaving behind, as better times and companies will come. Nothing of worth comes if you are only to serve someone else’s wishes. Give up of what is no longer good for you. Only then something new can rise and shine.

If you are able to establish a new relationship based on respect and dignity, perfect. If the relationship ends because you went against domination, this means that it was spoiled and it was about time to end.

No one belongs to anyone. Your life is yours, alone; do not hand it over to anyone, but do not forget to share your joys and achievements with the world.

Ask yourself if you can grant to anyone else the rights to your will and truth. Don’t be afraid of making choices, they are powerful tools for you to navigate your life. Through your choices you set the course of your life, you design your history and exert your spirituality. Therefore, your choices are sacred. Honor them as if they were holy!

 

Translated from the Portuguese by Carlos André Oighenstein.

 

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