Pridmore / Watts Journey to Freedom

1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9567021-1-1
Verlag: Morning Star Publications
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 185 Seiten

'Many of us can feel trapped and in prison, that life is not worth living and that there are parts of us which we find hard to accept' says John Pridmore, former London gangster and international speaker. He explores why so many of us sense there is something missing from our lives and why feelings of fulfilment and happiness are so short lived. Drawing on his own experiences and those of the men and women he has encountered on his travels, whose lives and ideas have shaped our modern culture and society, he discusses issues such as the nature of love, sexuality, spirituality and forgiveness. He looks deeply at the wounds many of us carry and how we can find peace, healing and a sense of real freedom. This is a book that can show you how to accept yourself, have richer personal relationships and discover what it is that makes you truly unique. In the past 15 years John has brought inspiration to over 2 million people in 20 countries with his dynamic and powerful talks and seminars. He is regularly featured on television, radio and various media shows throughout the world and his life story From Gangland to Promised Land has become an international best seller.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Pridmore, John

Watts, Greg

Leseproben

INTRODUCTION



Each one of us is on a journey through life and our goal is to find freedom within ourselves. I believe, deep down, that’s what we all want.   But what is freedom? Freedom means totally accepting ourselves as we are, with all our faults and failings. In other words, being real. It means living in the moment, not in the past or in the future. We can’t change the past and we no one knows what will happen in the future. When we live in the past we often beat ourselves up over things we’ve done. When we live in the future we usually worry about what might or might not happen. But if we live in the moment, we feel vibrant and alive.   Each of us is born to be happy and free and to know that we have a value not because of what we do, who we are, or what we look like, but because every one of us is unique. But to find this freedom we, first of all, have to love and accept ourselves and love and accept others. And this isn’t easy, as I know from my own life.   I discovered true freedom only after I left behind a life of violence and crime in London’s East End. My life used to be about the unholy trinity of me, myself and I. I wasn’t interested in anyone but me. As a gangster, my life revolved around greed and selfishness. It was like in the movie The Sixth Sense when the little boy says, ‘I see dead people, but they don’t know they are dead.’ I was a dead person, although I didn’t know it. This is what happens when you take and don’t give. And my life was all about taking from life rather than giving.   I now have a joy and peace in my life that are not based on money, drugs, or sex, which is where I once looked to find fulfilment. When I was a gangster I used to think I was free, because I did what I wanted, but I know now that I was really in a kind of self-imposed prison, not one with bars (although I have spent time in those).   Accepting yourself as you are is one of the biggest battles we face, because many of us don’t like who we are. One day a woman went to see a psychologist and told him she was feeling suicidal because of her appearance. She had lots of warts on her face.   ‘I hate the way I look,’ she said. ‘That’s why I hardly ever go out.’   The psychologist said, ‘When you wake up every morning, I want you to look in the mirror and say to each of those warts, “I love you, wart, and accept you.” And then watch your life change.’   And from that point on, her life was transformed. She learned to accept herself as she was.   But the problem many of us have is that we often like one side of us and hate the other. We don’t like our selfishness, greed, lust, or hate, for example, so we reject it. But the only way you will become free and at peace, and become a whole person, is if you accept the bits of you that you don’t like. Once you do this, you automatically start healing that part of you. It ceases to be a monster.   As Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche, said, ‘You have to tame the monsters of the past to control them, or they control you.’   I’ve found in my life that the more I accept myself, the freer I become. This is not to say that we should act on our selfishness. I know I can be selfish. But when I am I no longer beat myself up over it.   I know I’m a bit overweight; I like my food. But my weight doesn’t bother me. I like the way I am. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. What matters is who we really are, not what society says we are. Society often tells us that we have to be perfect, but we don’t.   When I gave a talk to inmates at a prison in the Cayman Islands I told them that if they used their time well they could turn the experience into something positive and regain their freedom. In other words, if they accepted themselves and their situation, then they could grow.   As someone once wrote, ‘Two men looked out of the prison bars; one saw dirt; the other saw stars.’   Mother Teresa said no matter whether you are born in the gutter or born in a palace, embrace it. We have to embrace our situation and turn it into something beautiful.   The message of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, which tells of how an orphan from the slums goes on to win a TV quiz show and the million rupee prize, is that even someone who is considered to be nothing more than a worthless piece of crap has a value.   This book is about how to become really free and how to become the person you are meant to be. In other words, it’s about spiritual growth and finding happiness.   Not to be free in yourself is to be imprisoned. We can be imprisoned by memories from our childhood, things we regret doing (or not doing) addictions, or what we think others expect us to be. By learning to overcome these things that imprison us, we find genuine freedom. I know this is true because it’s happened to me.   Discovering real freedom and achieving the incredible potential you have means being prepared to change. Yes, change is difficult, but it’s not impossible. I believe that if you really want to change, then you will – with the grace of God.   For me, God is not some kind of headmaster in the sky, waiting to catch us out and punish us. That’s a distortion of God. This is the kind of God Richard Dawkins seems to have in mind in his bestselling book The God Delusion. He’s wrong.   The God I have come to know since I turned my back on a life of crime is not a tyrant. As all the great spiritual writers down the centuries have said, one word sums up God: love. Because God created me, he knows me better than I know myself and he loves and accepts me as I am. We don’t have to earn God’s love. We don’t have to be good before he loves us.   As a mystic once said, ‘God’s greatest attribute is his mercy.’   What I’ve discovered is that the more we become the person God has created us to be the more free, the more happy and the more whole...