work calls with a crisis, they hit the ground running, never
stopping to think which activity is more vital to their overall well-
being and to their life's purpose. So, after all I have observed in
my life, both here in the West and in the East, I say that such
people have liberty but lack freedom. They lack a key ingredient
to a meaningful, enlightened life: the freedom to see the forest
beyond the trees, the freedom to choose what is right over what
seems pressing."
I couldn't help but agree with Julian. Sure, I had little to
complain about. I had a great family, a cozy home and a bustling
law practice. But I really couldn't say that I had achieved freedom.
My pager was just as much an appendage as my right arm. I was
always on the run. I never seemed to have the time to
communicate deeply with Jenny, and quiet time for myself in the
foreseeable future was about as likely as me winning the Boston
Marathon. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I
had probably never even tasted the nectar of true, boundless
freedom when I was younger. I guess I really was a slave to my
weaker impulses. I always did what everyone else told me I should
be doing.
"And building willpower will offer me more freedom?"
"Freedom is like a house: you build it brick by brick. The first
brick you should lay is willpower. This quality inspires you to do
what is right in any given moment. It gives you the energy to act
with courage. It gives you the control to live the life you have
imagined rather than accepting the life that you have."
Julian also noted the many practical benefits that the
cultivation of discipline would bring.
"Believe it or not, developing the power of your will can erase
the worry habit, keep you healthy and give you far more energy
nora
(Nora)
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