Every August 01st Trinidad and Tobago celebrates Emancipation Day for as far long as I can remember. Year in and year out, I see various communities from the African Diaspora create initiatives as a means to educate citizens about the meaning behind this rightfully owned holiday .The production is well received by many but the true essence of the concept is limited by the appreciation expressed after a week or so of the celebrations. Now I can assure this in no way is going to be a history lesson or another way to try to segregate our people. In fact , my goal is for my readers to self reflect after reading this and start to design their own path of life . By this I don’t mean one which was planted in our heads as being “right or wrong” . The great Bob Marley echoed the sentiments in his piece titled Redemption Song. He called on his listeners to “emancipate themselves from mental slavery and confirmed only YOU can free your mind”. But what does it really mean to be emancipated? How do you truly free yourself? Well while I don’t have all the answers as to how it would feel by each individual to feel emancipated ,I will provide you with a guide with only three steps to lead you along the right path. Like Bob Marley expressed in his song , freeing yourself mentally starts with you and having the keys to your freedom means it has to start with your unlocking mind .
MIND
So my first step as I mentioned before to freeing yourself begins with freeing your mind. Starting today I want you to start to think about the things , the people and places that you expose yourself to and ask yourself does it truly add to my life or is it subconsciously attempting to decrease my value , self-worth ,self-esteem or overall happiness . Let me explain ; let’s say you are unhappy in your job but still instead of making it a daily routine to apply for jobs and ensuring you are connected with all vacancies associated with your skills, experience and qualifications , most of your time is spent on Facebook looking at your friends posts , the new trends or what is going viral .Or for instance are you in debt but most your money is going towards making yourself look like what society has deemed to be beautiful (e.g. additional hair , makeup, latest clothes ). Now while I believe a person should express themselves in a way they feel beautiful. I also believe despite I would indulge in my examples from time to time, beauty is within and none of the products define who we are as a person so one should not train their mind to be dependent on it especially when it is not a priority. Like we trinis say “mauby money and champagne taste “. Or even the things we expose ourselves and our children to for example, music that promotes violence and refers to women in the most demeaning forms like bitch and hoe. Now within your soul it may feel wrong but because”everyone “seems to be doing it the perception feels right.What else what it take for us to be awaken? Action always speaks louder than words.
BODY
My second step is looking at the things you put in and on your body .Starting today I want you to start to look at the things you consume and use on your body. Have you ever stopped and think about how much persons cancer has defeated within recent years in comparison to twenty years ago. I for one don’t remember this being such an epidemic but more so diabetes being the killer of my grandparents’ era. Both considered diseases and both research has identified to generate mainly from either the things we eat or use .Fast food has become very popular over the last couple of years and it has not only convinced most of us that cooking is no longer important but also fast food is not as damaging to our health. When an advertisement says it has less sugar or salt or even my favourite no MSG, do you ever even stop to look at the other ingredients or are you sold based on the product marketing strategy. How about even the products we use daily on our bodies, Have you ever took note of how you feel after you use it? Do you have to sometimes double up on the product or even use it with another product to get the desired results? As simple as it may seem even the imported fruits and vegetables we purchase in the grocery stores can harm us over a period of time . Do you know how these foods are, grown, harvested or even packaged to maintain its shelf life? Now while I have awakened your mind and body, let’s close the equation and make it whole.
SOUL
Now while some of us may belong to a religion, how much of you practice in your faith. By this I mean go to church and participate regularly in the beliefs and traditions of the church? Then there are those that may say they are not affiliated with any religion for reasons of their own and they consider themselves to be a spiritual person. Question is how much time do you take to develop your spirituality? This too is not going to be aimed at defining your religious beliefs. Instead I prefer we at least agree on this, there is a greater being that not only created us but also provided us with a sense of consciousness. For you not to live your life in such a way to appreciate life itself by nourishing your mind, body and soul is an unconscious state of slowly committing suicide . I believe starting from today due to the wealth of awakening you just received ,your journey towards a not only emancipated life but one where you would free yourself from the things that we have been thought to believe as the final say will begin. Still need help understanding how to go through the process to freeing yourself? Feel free to connect with me via my email at [email protected] or join my face book group on Facebook Parenting with a purpose . Looking forward to hearing more from me ……….. SUBSCRIBE and don’t forget to leave a comment . Looking forward to connecting with you soon.
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