This is Independence Day. The day the United States celebrates her declaration of freedom.

Make this your personal Independence Day.

What do you need to be free of? What’s holding you back? What can you let go of? Or even just decide to let go of?

Freedom comes step by step. And it starts with an intention, the desire to be free, and discomfort with what is constraining you. You gain freedom when you let go and say no to whatever is keeping you from feeling free.You have to let go of the familiar and be willing to risk uncertainty.

We keep ourselves prisoner and we release ourselves by our thoughts. By how we choose to perceive and apply meaning to our experiences, motivations, actions, and reactions.

If you’re feeling unfree in your spirit today, don’t berate yourself for it. Ask yourself: what if I were free? What if I could create a new way of thinking about my life? What if I had the power to change my thoughts and that would change my feelings and create new circumstances and experiences in my future?

Let your mind explore the possibility of actually creating a future where you are happy, whole and living your dreams. Open yourself to the possibility that you could experience this. Then start thinking about the thoughts that limit you. Are they true? How do you know they are true? What if they weren’t true?

What new thought could you think that would feel freer?