YOU: before and after. Who are you now?

Who are you now? Who have you become, as a result of all the confinement, fear-mongering and restrictions? And who do you want to be? Are they one and the same?

Are you a better, wiser, more conscious person than before, or are you less than you were? Have you been diminished by this or have you grown? Have you become cynical and defeated, or are you inspired to actively make the world a better place, to make new choices, to make yourself all you can be?

Will you still be hiding behind a mask even when masks are no longer a requirement? Were you being fully you before the masks came on? Or were you always hiding behind some kind of façade?

When the masks come off and we all come out, what will we see in each other—and in ourselves, as reflected back to us by others?

What is the challenge inherent in this duality—from living behind a mask, to removing the mask and being fully seen for who we really are?

Isn’t that what we want our governments to do?

Then there’s the social distancing, keeping us separated, divided, mistrusting and judgemental, sometimes even condemning each other for not conforming or succumbing to the fear-mongering.

Will you be all of those things when you finally ‘get out’? Or will you be their opposite—striving to be connected, trusting in humanity, supporting and loving your fellow humans, and encouraging everyone to be powerfully themselves?

What if that were your ticket to freedom?

What have you been doing to promote your health, boost your immunity and keep yourself strong? Were you doing all of those things before? Are you doing them now? Do you trust your own body to do its job of protecting your health? Or do you trust drugs and governments more?

What have you learned in the midst of all the spin, exaggeration, confusion, drama, debate, fear-mongering, control, punishment, fines and restrictions? Have you held fast to your independent mind or have you been swept along by hysteria, panic and dread of illness? Have you done your own research or believed what your governments tell you?

You don’t have to wait till you are physically free to be free. And you don’t need anyone else’s permission, either. You can be free wherever you are, just as Nelson Mandela remained free within himself when he was in prison for 27 years. He didn’t just come out a free man, he was a free man when he came out.

We are challenged to be the things we want to be when faced with their opposite.

Right now—confined or not—how can you be free? 

What kind of freedom can we express and cultivate so we take ourselves to a place of personal freedom, regardless of the circumstances—and, when those circumstances change (ideally as a result of our collective actions), we are already free and can then contribute as free-thinking individuals, rather than as exhausted inmates who are finally allowed out when somebody else says so?

Who are you now? Are you living someone else’s lie or finding your own truth?