|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
I Just Want to be Free - I Just Want to be Me!
It was a sunny Saturday in April 2003 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Carolina-blue sky seemed to kiss the wavy waters as the gentle wind embraced the beach. After enjoying the beach for a while with my 16-year old daughter and husband, one by one, they ventured off to find a spot on the beach away from the water. I stood close to the water barely wetting my feet and totally mesmerized by God's awesome creation. The voices of the beach-goers gradually faded as the sounds of the wind, the waves, and the seagulls emerged. Suddenly, my attention was diverted as I noticed how my son and nephew were totally immersed in the moment. Challenging the sand that seemed to capture their feet with every enormous wave, they went from only getting wet from the legs down, to being totally drenched from head to toe. Forgetting about the hunger that occupied their every thought moments ago, they were simply enjoying the moment to be free -- to be free to be who they were. As I stood there watching and smiling, my smiled turned to laughter as my eyes filled with tears at the unexpected experience of enjoying the same spellbound freedom that they were enjoying. I thought about life, and the choice that I have to be free. Then I thought about how countless of individuals are held captive in daily routines, never taking one moment out of the day to just be - to just be free. After a while, knowing that this moment must end, I motioned the boys to come on to leave. They yelled, "Just one more time!" "Okay," I said, as I stood full of laughter and tears in my eyes, experiencing my moment of freedom -- as they freely enjoyed their moment without limitations. "One more time," they yelled repeatedly. "Okay, just one more time, " I repeatedly yelled back, until that moment finally did end. My son and nephew will never realize how their expression of freedom evoked a renewed freedom within me in that moment, on that fine April day. The freedom of knowing that at any time I choose, I can be free to just be me -- just as I did that day. I will never let that moment, that experience, or that choice go. What an experience it is to be free - to be free to just be me, without self-limitations, or the limitations of others. What actions must you take to experience your true freedom today? At any moment that you choose, you too can be free -- to just be -- who you are. Think about it, experience it, live it, and never let it go! ------------------------- Copyright 2003 by Audrina Jones Bunton. REPRINTING THIS ARTICLE: Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this article only in its entirety and provided copyright is acknowledged. You can find other articles to choose from at http://www.purposefully-living.com/mailing%20list.htm Motivational Speaker, Audrina Jones Bunton was born the seventh of eight children in her household in Pinehurst, North Carolina into a loving and committed Christian home. As she has 2 children, over 40 nieces and nephews and great- nieces and nephews, it is not unusual to find her under the same roof with many of her maternal five-generation family on weekends and on holidays. In her youth, she fondly recalls traveling throughout the U.S. with her family, as her parents ministered from state to state year after year-helping people as they traveled. A graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, Audrina is a Competent Toastmaster of Toastmasters International and serves as the North Carolina District Sergeant At Arms. She is a former counselor of the Durham Pregnancy Support Services, a Christian-oriented crisis pregnancy center in Durham, North Carolina and is currently a Social Research Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Audrina is currently studying at the Master's Divinity School in Evansville, Indiana with a combined concentration in Biblical Counseling and IABC certification. She also serves as the Youth Director at the Come As You Are Evangelistic Center in Aberdeen, North Carolina where her mother, Lydia Jones is the pastor. Modeling after a song that her mother so often sings, and one that Martin Luther King, Jr. often quoted, her life and speeches are based on the following lyrics, "If I can help somebody as I pass along, If I can cheer somebody with a word or song, If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong, Then my living will not be in vain." Audrina resides with her husband William, and 2 children, Audrina Lorraine and William Woodrow.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Innovation Makes Leaders Basically what innovation does is making your business unique and often more progressive in its development. Innovation Management ? Isolating Problems and Implementing Solutions Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Why It?s Important to Make Your Idea Real Say you have an idea for something new and exciting in your life. Color Your Life Have you ever arrived at place in your career and wondered how you got there? Have you found yourself stuck, not liking your job, yet not seeing how you can change after investing 15 years at it.Let's take a different perspective and see if you can solve your dilemma through this colorful full spectrum exploration of job and career. Business Innovation ? the Creative Process Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Take Your Good Idea One Step Further Whether you're an executive, manager, professional, or entrepreneur, you need to think ahead. When you do it in a formal sense, it's called it planning, when you do it informally it's something like speculating. Why Do We Suppress Higher Thought? Throughout History we have imprisoned our brightest stars and thinkers. In modern periods we force them into works of fiction and disallow those Thoughts, which make us question our perceived or created realities by those who rule over us. We attack the innovators, entrepreneurs, personalities and thinkers in our civilizations in every country in the world. Occassionally we allow a few to come forth with ideas in works of fiction; because we as a people would shun their thoughts if they were not brought out in any other way. Let's use Ayn Rand, Bertrand Russell, Arthur C Clark, John Gresham, Ben Bova, Isaac Asimov, Tom Clancy as examples for this point. When brought forth as a fictional work it makes you think and brings out a point of contention. If brought forth as an idea, it would quickly be squashed as not Politically Correct or used to discredit the person for original thought. Business Innovation ? Eliciting Talent Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Its A Quantum Thing We don't need to understand quantum physics entirely in order to appreciate it. Even those who have devoted their lives to the study of the universe and its atomic structure will admit that many mysteries remain. Well, I love mysteries, so let's set the scene for this one... Three Step Problem Solving How do you like to solve your problems? Do you prefer to use the more creative problem solving techniques, or the systematic ones? You'll get the best of both with the add-subtract-change method. Innovation Management ? predicting winners Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. What to Do When You Are Chased by a Snake I lived for several years on the Japanese island of Okinawa. It is a tropical island setting with a wealth of beauty and lots of things to do. We lived on the side of a mountain that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The beauty that we were able to observe from there was breathtaking. Business Innovation ? Small Changes, Big Effects Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Can We Change People? There was a class of "challenged" children and many teachers were brought in over time but each one ended up quitting in frustration. Finally, a teacher was brought in and a miracle happened. That class of students ended up becoming a group of happy, well- behaved and good students. What happened? Innovation Management ? Ideas From The Most Embarrassing Experiences Of Life Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Business Innovation ? the Value of Being Obvious Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Creativity and Innovation Management - Good Ideas Part 2 The relative ease of i) generating good ideas and ii) lack of resources means that there are usually more good ideas available than can be successfully innovated. As a result, it is often the case that ideas must be evaluated for risk and reward in order to select those that are most likely to succeed. Innovation Innovation, in a business context, is generally thought of as the product or application of creativity. Peter F. Drucker suggests that innovation "is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship." Business Innovation ? Good Thinking Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Innovation and Competitive Advantage Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |