I read this quote today: “To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.” by Shunryu Suzukiand, and it got me thinking about freedom, and how we allow ourselves to become enslaved by mediocrity but we are tricked into thinking we are free.

If you give people just enough to think they are free, you will control them! Don’t fall into the trap! Don’t be a slave to mediocrity. Having 100 television channels and eating out at Applebees is not the “good life!” Buying expensive gadgets that you can’t afford is not the good life. Letting someone else pay you a meager stipend so you don’t have to work is not the good life. Distracting yourself with tabloid drama and gossip is not the good life.

The good life begins when you can feel good about yourself and your choices, and you take responsibility for both! The good life is when you don’t let the media trick you into buying things that you don’t need. It’s when you eat real, quality food, not mass produced garbage from a brightly colored, cookie cutter franchise. It’s when you get a job or start a business that you love, and you get paid for doing what you are passionate about. It’s when you are so involved in your own exciting life that you don’t have time to care about what fake Hollywood celebrities are naming their babies. It’s when your book collection is bigger than your television. It’s when you have a passion-filled, loving, relationship with someone you love and adore.

The government, the media, politicians, companies, and the like want to keep you fat, dumb, and mediocre. They profit if you buy their goods, vote for them, or stay imprisoned in the welfare system. Break free for real! Educate yourself, stop watching television, go outside, take a trip, discover someplace new, eat healthy foods, get a new job, start a business, write a book, volunteer, avoid the news, laugh, go on an adventure, be playful, try something new, improve your relationship, spend time with your family, and don’t settle for mediocrity! Take control of your own life!

Get out from under the thumb of the internet, the television, politicians, or anything else that trys to convince you what to buy, who to vote for, or what you should look like. Did you know that women in particular spend $426 billion dollars per year just on beauty products? We could eradicate hunger and poverty if women would stop letting the media convince them to look younger, thinner, and more beautiful. Don’t buy the lie. You already possess everything you need to live an inspired, fun filled, loving, and happy life!

Today, invest in YOU! Invest your time in a good book or a long walk, or some quality time with the people you love. Stop being a slave to everyone else that wants to control you, your money, or your emotions, and Live Inspired and Free Now!