When I share stories from my teenage years, I always try to warn my audience of a well-understood, quite public reality at the time. I grew up in a family that was, for a variety of reasons, unusual.
As an example, we had no buy and hold cars in our family until we got to India. The usual life span was in the 4-8 weeks. Purchase a wreck, fix, paint, enjoy the car, and sell on the high. Focus on paying the bills, making a bit of money, and living to see another day.
If we did not have something, could we build it? The ideas of mini-bikes, push carts, go-carts, and custom bicycles were not something one saved up for or enjoyed in a dream. There were no expensive gifts under the tree or magically appearing on our birthdays. When we imagined an idea, design sketches, build options, and prototypes followed. While not every idea worked well, everyone had a story and came with a learning experience.
It was an incredible gift of freedom, starting at a very early age.
I remember the first times I in taking this to the edge. Borrowing things which were not mine led to an incredible high riding a Hondo 250 at speed, to a low as I faced the accountability of breaking the trust which had been given to me for the bike’s safe keeping.
It was in these early experiences where I found myself introduced to freedom’s coin. Yes, it could be said that “he does just as he pleases – however, wherever, whenever,” (Psalm 135.6). This is one side of the coin. The other is the accountability and responsibility of using Freedom to an end. Was my freedom primarily focused on my pleasure? As I gained experience, I realized there was so much more to freedom than I imagined.
Freedom permissions me to give empathy, compassion, and acceptance to others. I may not be required to act this way. I am free to offer and release, letting it go in the lives of those around me.
