{"id":21683,"date":"2025-06-26T15:45:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/independence-day-and-the-choice-to-be-free\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:08:25","slug":"independence-day-and-the-choice-to-be-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/independence-day-and-the-choice-to-be-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Independence Day and the choice to be free"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ron
Ron Price<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the Fourth of July holiday approaching, I have been thinking about freedom and liberty. As Americans we enjoy both, but while they are often lumped together, they are not the same.<\/p>\n

A recent Google search revealed that \u201cLiberty generally emphasizes the absence of external constraints, particularly those imposed by authority or government, focusing on legal and political rights.\u201d Next year will mark our nation\u2019s 250th anniversary of our right to liberty, and I hope none of us ever takes that for granted. Billions of people on our planet would love to experience what we accept as commonplace.<\/p>\n

Again, according to Google, \u201cFreedom, on the other hand, is a broader concept, encompassing the ability to act, speak, or think as one wants without undue restrictions, including personal autonomy and the absence of constraints.\u201d As an American, you have the right to be free, but this is not automatic. You must choose to exercise your freedom, or it will not exist.<\/p>\n

Most of us know someone, or perhaps you yourself, who is or has been addicted to various negative practices or habits. Those battling addictions do not experience freedom, for even though they make the choice to engage in their harmful habits, they often desperately long to be free from them.<\/p>\n

Another frequent practice that keeps people in bondage is unforgiveness. You, like the rest of us, have been wronged a time or two in your life. Truth be told you have wronged others as well, but that is another topic for another time. The bad news is that mistreatment by others will continue to occur from time to time. The good news is that you can minimize the damage caused by that mistreatment.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard the expression \u201cforgive and forget.\u201d Well, that sounds nice, but short of brain damage, you simply cannot force yourself to forget something. A better way to live is \u201cforgive and move on.\u201d Depending on the severity of the offense, you may or may not choose to remain in relationship with whoever offended or mistreated you. But to hold on to a grudge, or to seek revenge or to want them to pay for what they did will likely harm you far more than them.<\/p>\n

Ken Sande, in his book \u201cThe Peacemaker,\u201d wrote that \u201cunforgiveness is the poison we drink, expecting the other person to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another common expression you have likely heard or said is \u201cI\u2019m going to give them a piece of my mind.\u201d Well, I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t have enough extra pieces to be giving any away. It\u2019s also a fact that harboring ill will toward someone robs you of your peace, joy, and contentment.<\/p>\n

I realize that all offenses are not equal. Some cause more pain and damage than others, and forgiveness may be more difficult in certain cases than in others. But please note, I am not suggesting you choose to forgive someone for their sake \u2013 but for you own. I\u2019m also not suggesting that forgiveness means the other person gets away with whatever they did. Restitution of some form is often justified, and again often for the sake of the offender to hopefully learn the error of their ways.<\/p>\n

As you celebrate the Fourth, and every day of your freedom, please consider giving yourself the freedom of letting go of bitterness, and resentment. I\u2019m confident you\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n

Ron Price, who has a master\u2019s degree in counseling from the University of New Mexico, is author of the \u201cPlay Nice in Your Sandbox\u201d book series and creator of the CPR Mastery video course. He is available for workshops and staff training. Contact Ron at ron@ronprice.com<\/a> and (505) 324-6328. Learn more at ronprice.com.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pricecca With the Fourth of July holiday approaching, I have been thinking about freedom and liberty. As Americans we enjoy both, but while they are often lumped together, they are not the same. A recent Google search revealed that \u201cLiberty generally emphasizes the absence of external constraints, particularly those imposed by authority or government, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77416,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21683\/revisions\/77416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21683"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}