John Pridmore - Journey to Freedom

It meansliving in the moment, not in the past or in thefuture. We cant change the past and we no oneknows what will happen in the future. When we livein the past we often beat ourselves up over thingsweve done. When we live in the future we usuallyworry about what might or might not happen. Butif we live in the moment, we feel vibrant and alive.Each of us is born to be happy and free andto know that we have a value not because of whatwe do, who we are, or what we look like, butbecause every one of us is unique. But to find thisfreedom we, first of all, have to love and acceptourselves and love and accept others.

And thisisnt easy, as I know from my own life.I discovered true freedom only after I leftbehind a life of violence and crime in Londons EastEnd. My life used to be about the unholy trinity ofme, myself and I. I wasnt interested in anyonebut me. As a gangster, my life revolved aroundgreed and selfishness. It was like in the movieTheSixth Sense when the little boy says, I see deadpeople, but they dont know they are dead. I wasa dead person, although I didnt know it.

This iswhat happens when you take and dont give. Andmy life was all about taking from life rather thangiving.I now have a joy and peace in my life thatare not based on money, drugs, or sex, which iswhere I once looked to find fulfilment . When I wasa gangster I used to think I was free, because I didwhat I wanted, but I know now that I was really ina kind of self-imposed prison, not one with bars(although I have spent time in those).Accepting yourself as you are is one of thebiggest battles we face, because many of us dontlike who we are. One day a woman went to see apsychologist and told him she was feeling suicidalbecause of her appearance. She had lots of wartson her face.