Education of One's True Self Brings Freedom to Others

Yesterday I brought you a quote from Epictetus, and it had me thinking of his Philosophical teachings. As a philosopher, Epictetus believed all external events are are out of one's control, and decided by fate, but that we are responsible for our own actions. He believed that suffering came from trying to control the uncontrollable, or from ignoring our personal internal power. Thus he believed that the world is one universal city, for which we all have a responsibility to take care of and care for each other, and unless we follow this we will not achieve true happiness.

As we embark on this season of giving, it is a time when most of us take a step back from the chaos of daily life and begin to think of others and not of ourselves, and we look for ways to give back. One begins to analyze their life and look back on the year as we prepare to dawn on a new year, we see things with a new set of eyes and suddenly so much becomes clearer. Suddenly what one thought was important in life is not so important, we realize that we have been caught up in the must haves and wants of life, and not the needs of one's life. Then when one steps back and looks at their life they begin to see how much they really have, or do not have…wealth and possessions begin to fade in their importance and we see that many of us are luckier than we ever knew. On our worst days, there is someone who suffers in ways we cannot imagine, and this realization brings one to see that regardless of how much or little we have, we always have something to give back to those who are less fortunate than us.

Giving is not about material things'; giving is about using your resources, gifts and skills to help others obtain a better place in life. That gift that you give may be time spent with someone who is sick or just in need of love and companionship, it may be teaching, it can be donating your time to help serve meals or build a home, it can be donating the excesses in your life, giving is about looking within, so you can truly see what is around you.

The educated are truly free, and when we are educated on the importances of life, it is then that we can finally give freedom to those who have been chained by ignorance.