This weekend on July 4^th, the United States celebrates 240 years of independence from England.  That bloody Revolutionary War sparked by the injustices the early Colonial settlers experienced, changed the course of history and birthed America from an English penal colony to a fledgling country of its own.  The founding fathers of this country created the first experiment of democracy since the classical Greek societies in 600 B.C.

Today many Americans – as well as citizens in other countries throughout the world – proclaim their freedom.  Freedom to think for themselves.  Freedom to vote.  Freedom to live a certain life-style. Freedom to worship the way that person chooses without the fear of retribution or even death.  This template of freedom was ignited on that day when the Declaration of Independence was signed here in America.

But is that really true?  Are we truly free – or have we traded perceived security for some form of subjugation?  Are our minds, our thoughts, our actions free from old, outdated beliefs that keep us entrapped and unhappy?  Are our emotions being hijacked by the media, by fear, by anything?  To whom or what have we allowed our independence and sovereignty to be eroded and outright hijacked?

In the U.S. Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776, our forefathers stated: (Bold italics are mine.)

“When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World…” 

You can read the entire Declaration of Independence here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/PDFs/M-654.pdf

I love this Declaration of Independence.  It inspires me.  It makes me think.  It teaches me to be a better, stronger person.  It basically says, “We will no longer tolerate the injustice of this situation.  And we are choosing sovereignty, rather than continuing to live under abuses and despotism!”

Ironically, 240 years later, we see very similar situations of tyranny in our own country by the very government that was designed to protect our liberties and right to happiness.  Our government seems to have gone amuck.  How have we allowed this to happen if this government is “We the People, Of the People, By the People and For the People?”

Everywhere is the evidence that our government officials have been bought, and have sold out, to the interests of big business, big pharma, and big agriculture.  But this article isn’t about whining and complaining about it and doing nothing.  Even though most of us have no idea how to repair such a broken, corrupt system that cares too blatantly little for the will of the people it governs.

Could it be that the answers lie within each and every one of us? Could it be that we may even be experiencing similar energies in our own lives?  Is our government reflecting our inner experiences to us in profound 3-D Technicolor ways?  The fact is, we may even be our own abuser, our own oppressor, our own tyrant!

Because there is so much bombardment lately, perhaps you feel overwhelmed and hopeless to make any changes.  But I disagree with that belief.  I believe that we are far more powerful than we give ourselves credit for!

I believe that as we change within ourselves the old, entrenched belief systems that are being reflected in our outer world, we have not just the right, but the responsibility to do something about it.  And it starts with us!  It starts by looking within and being willing to make changes.

Because we are all connected through the collective conscious (or unconscious, as the case may be!), everything we are experiencing is impacting the country we live in and the entire planet.  We are not separate.  We are one humanity with the same expectations, needs and desires for something better.  Something greater than ourselves.

There is a great deal of hate speech being spouted here in the U.S. and around the world.  It seems like everybody is feeling hateful about something.  But where do you feel hateful feelings within or about yourself?

What part of your body do you despise?  Is it your thighs, your jiggly arms, your not-so-flat belly, your freckles, your aging skin, your hair, your breasts, your toes, your legs, or your backside?  Why?  Who says these things are not absolutely perfect?  (Hint:  It might be the media and Big Business!)

What part of your life do you absolutely hate – and cannot or will not tolerate? Is there something you simply cannot get past?  Some real or perceived hurt or harm you’ve experienced or been on the receiving end?  Do you dread going to work every day because it feels like you are either giving away a part of your soul or it is being stolen from you? (Hint: It might be old messages from old religious or social patterning.)

What hate-speech are you perpetrating on yourself?  Do you tell yourself you’re stupid, not good enough, not beautiful enough, just not enough – period?  Do you hear the voices of someone in your past telling you you’re ugly or fat, selfish or horrible?  And have you taken on those voices and joined the “choir?”  (Hint:  It might be that bully or rival from childhood or critical parent.)

Do you punish yourself mercilessly for over-eating, by spending hours at the gym?  Numb out with food, drugs, TV, sex, shopping or other addictions to avoid just how much pain you’re really in, because you just don’t know any other coping skills?  What do YOU want to build a wall around so that you can keep something that you perceive as unpleasant out of your life? What part of you needs to be reclaimed and reintegrated with love? (Hint:  This might be self-hatred, or fear of the unknown trying to control your life.)

Are you punishing yourself needless for any past-life “transgressions” that you no longer have any control over (the past is the PAST – there’s no going back, only forgiveness!) by being over-spiritual or over-giving? (Hint:  This might involve some deep soul-clearing work.)

What are you trying to control?  Yourself?  Others?  Certain situations or circumstances that you really have no control over?

Where are you betraying yourself?  How might you be a traitor to your true beliefs or desires in order to keep an imagined peace?

If what areas have you become so intolerant or judgmental of yourself or others that even the slightest infractions of behavior send your blood pressure and emotions sky-rocketing out of control?

If you have answered “yes” to any of these questions – or if these questions have triggered any other “ah-ha’s” for you, I believe it’s time for your own personal Declaration of Independence.

It’s time to take a stand for yourself.  For higher principles.  For greater love and compassion for yourself and for others.  I believe we are all just doing the best we can in a world in which the energetic and emotional heat is being turned up.

There’s an agenda that is designed to keep us enslaved to the status quo.  Fighting ourselves and one another.  Keeping us embroiled and agitated so that all we see are our differences and not our true similarities.  It’s a way to control us and we’re buying into it.  It’s time to opt out!

Here’s a version of my own Declaration of Independence I’m adopting for myself this year.  It’s a reminder to myself that I truly am a sovereign Being of the planet and of the Universe.  And that as that Sovereign Being – that Divine Sovereign Being with inalienable rights granted to me by a loving and compassionate Creator – I am responsible for creating my own reality.

I am responsible for the energy I put out in the world.  I am responsible for the words I speak the either agitate people to violence, hurt someone and make them doubt themselves, or inspire others to greatness.

I am responsible for how I treat myself, and for breaking out of old, entrained patterns that were established more than half a century ago, that I have old recently become aware of.  These old patterns are no longer in alignment with who I am today.  So I believe that it’s time for my own personal revolution.  What about you?  Will you join me?

“When in the Course of my evolutionary human existence, it becomes necessary that I, as an evolving, conscious Human Being, have needs to dissolve the emotional, mental, physical, spiritual and financial Bands which have chained me to myself or with any others in ways that are limiting, disabling, and karmically unsustainable; and to assume the Powers of Heaven and Earth, the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God which entitle ME a conscious separation from the pain and suffering I have been inflicting on myself or others. 

I hold these Truths to be self-evident, that I – and all Human Beings – are created beautifully, powerfully, joyously and freely.  That we are endowed by and with our Creator’s Consciousness, with certain Unalienable Rights. That among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these Rights, I now mandate that I am Self-Aware and Self-Governing.  It is MY Right – and the right of all People – to alter or to abolish destructive and limiting beliefs, thoughts and practices, and to institute new Personal, conscientious Governance, in order to create and effect my Individual Safety, Authority, Prosperity and Happiness.

I have long-endured almost unendurable harshness because I thought I had no choice, and no power to change.  Indeed, I didn’t recognize the maltreatments because they were simply part of my formerly unconscious life.  But When the long Train of Abuses and forcible seizure of my personal power and free will, either by myself or others, which are designed to reduce me completely under absolute oppression, coercion, authoritarianism and domination, it is My Right, it is My Duty, to throw off such Governance, and to provide new Guards and Standards for my future Security, Safety and Happiness. It is now necessary through my deeper understanding of my Greater Soul Self, which compels me to alter my personal beliefs and personal governances.  Because of the tyranny these old beliefs, thoughts and actions have had over my Being, as a sovereign Being of the Universe, I choose joy, freedom, the pursuit of my soul’s purpose, beauty, enlightenment and ONENESS over all else…”

I love this awakening and evolutionary – even revolutionary – time we are in.  Although it may be a little overwhelming, stressful, and scary, it’s also exhilarating, powerful, and OURS!

This is a pivotal time in history for humanity, both collectively and personally.  Never before in recorded history have we had the opportunity for so much personal freedom – or so much to lose.  So much understanding of our place in the Universe.  So much raw opportunity to become and embody the completely Divine Expression that we are designed to be.

Here’s to true freedom.  Yours and mine.  The freedom to be whatever and whomever you wish to be!  Happy 4^th of July!