Five Freedoms

I stumbled upon the five freedoms by Virginia Satir. 

For those of you that don't know, these are words to live by. 

For those of you that do know, it's a nice reminder. 

The five freedoms: 

1. To see and to hear - what is here, instead of what should be, was, or will be. 

2. To say - what one feels and thinks instead of what should.

3.  To feel - what one feels, instead of what one ought. 

4. To ask - for what one wants, instead of always waiting for permission. 

5. To take risks - in one's behalf, instead of choosing to be only 'secure' and not rocking the boat. 

Be present, tell people how you feel, express yourself, ask for what you want, and take a risk. Sounds fairly simple. If only people actually lived by these sayings. If only we could sustain a healthy balance between the five freedoms. 

Satir, author and psychotherapist known as the pioneer of family therapy, has created the five freedoms to help us connect with ourselves. Life is really really hard. Be true to yourself and don't expect people to be mind readers. Communicate better and other things in life will fall into place. 'If you never try you'll never know' right? So take some calculated risks while your at it.