Every year, I have more appreciation for living in Canada than the year prior. This past weekend, I spent time overlooking the City of Toronto and its waterfront with thoughts of freedom continually pervading my mind. I believe that in Canada we have the privilege of having more freedom than if we were to live anywhere else in the world.

What is freedom to you?  Here are a few ideas that came to mind:

• Having running water, a roof over our head, food, toiletries, clothing, a bed to sleep in peacefully for hours, warmth, medical care, dental care, and maybe even a vehicle to drive whenever and wherever we want
• Being able to choose if we want to engage in politics or not
• Knowing how to read and being able to read whatever we want, allowing us to form our own thoughts & beliefs and learn more about what we are passionate about
• Accessing Facebook and other social media platforms to hear the good news in the world, as opposed to the bad news. These platforms also give us the opportunity to freely express ourselves.
• Being surrounded by people that love and appreciate us
• Loving ourselves enough to feel confident in being who we really are
• Having the time to heal and nurture ourselves, as well as others
• Being able to unleash our creativity
• Having the power to choose what we are going to do with each moment in a day
• Feeling safe, no matter where we are or who we are with
• Loving who we want to love
• Having the ability to convert every negative thought into a positive one or every “bad” occurrence into a blessing, even if it takes time
• Having our physical, emotional and spiritual health

For those of you that want more freedom for yourselves and know that it is possible, how do you obtain this freedom?  There is one sure way – learn from those that have found it….and remember that with age, time and belief more and more things become possible.

The independence and liberation that most of us here in Canada have access to is worth contemplating.  My hope is that this blog will encourage you to spend more time FULLY appreciating the freedom and safety that we have here. Happy Canada Day to all of the occupants of this incredible country!