Freedom Was Not Free, Neither Is Success
By Buhle Dlamini
“In life there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Anonymous
If I have heard that phrase once I have heard it a thousand times, “there is no free lunch in life”, obviously not to be taken literally. I have enjoyed many a lunch at no monetary cost to me, but there are other costs like time spent with the other etc. Recently I have been thinking about the cost of freedom that we enjoy today. Freedom to be whom and what we choose to be. Freedom to vote for those we want to lead us in government. Freedom to choose how and who to worship. Freedom to associate with those we choose to associate with. Freedom to express our feelings and concerns without worrying about being thrown in jail. These and many others are some of the rights or freedoms we have today. We can never take any of these rights for granted; they define our freedom as human beings living in a free country.
If we scratch a little deeper though we realize that this freedom we now live in was not free. This freedom we have came at a great cost. It cost many families loved ones and many individuals years of suffering, torture and separation. Freedom was not free even though it is now available for free to all of us today. We must never forget the cost of freedom so that we will defend it with all of our might. We need to always put before us the cost so that we will always cherish freedom and not trample it.
Success, like freedom is not free. Many are waiting for success to be passed out in buckets for free and that is not going to happen. Many believe that those who are now successful should share their success so that others may get it for free. It is a notion that many want to even fight for as their right. This is ridiculous to the extreme! Success in anything, education, business, career and relationships, comes at a cost. Success has to cost you something; otherwise it is no success at all. By it’s very definition success speaks about overcoming something to be in a better position. (more…)