What Does Freedom Mean to You?

Several weeks ago, I asked our Single 101 Nation followers to share their answers to this question, "What does freedom mean to you?" and promised to post them on this weekend's blog. This morning, on July 3rd, I am still waiting for comments. It's okay if you choose not to share. That's what freedom is all about. Below, I have listed comments that I have found around the world over the past two years, published in newspapers or online forums. These are my picks for this Fourth of July of 2011:


*When I left Ireland to go to North America, I was finally free.

*To be yourself.

*I can speak about anything I wish to speak about and have no fear of retribution with anything but words.

*I could have been an entirely different person were it not for coming to the United States. Often I ponder what my life would have been like without the freedoms that I have now. My family and I emigrated from Chile with small means and one simple goal, opportunity.

*Becoming a U.S. citizen was the best decision of my life. Freedom, to me, is the right to have the opportunities to progress and do it without being oppressed.

*To me, freedom means that you can live your own life. You make your own decisions and choices and no one can control your life for you. No one makes your decisions for you. But it also means that you have to live with the consequences of the choices that you make, whether they be good or bad.

*I served my country during the Vietnam War in the U.S. Navy. I think freedom means being honest. If we do that, we can be free.

*To me, freedom creates a future for me and my family to believe what we want to believe, to seek after the things we desire, to work hard for our own success, and to learn and grow without limitations.

*Freedom is not free. You are either paying for freedom with support, sacrifice and service or you are free because someone else has paid the price for you.

*Freedom is the opportunity to own your own destiny.

*Freedom is a place in your heart.