Hello everyone, thanks for reading up this post. This is my entry for the freedom challenge #freedomchallenge nicely put together by @sagescrub
You can check the post for the contest here: @sagescrub/freedom-challenge-3-how-do-you-express-your-freedom-sbd-to-4-winners-1519257201
Freedom according to one dictionary is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. My whole life has been centered around freedom. So i express it with my life. One way i did that and keep doing it is by my employment.
If you work for a company or any firm, you can never truly be free. In fact, i call it modern slavery. I so hated it. Someone is entirely responsible for controlling your existence. When will you wake up? when will you vacation? When will you visit friends? When will you watch TV? How do you live? Someone will determine when you do all these and more. Is it raining? Is the snowfall heavy? Are there thunders? Even if the sky is falling, you have to report to work and do so in time. Otherwise, you will be queried and that is the first step to being sacked. Let us not talk about an abusive boss, difficult co-workers, a demanding job assignment or the stresses of going to and coming back from work. How else do you define slavery?
I decided to live and enjoy my freedom. I studied Computer Science in school. After graduation and the compulsory national service (NYSC: National Youth Service Corps), because i wanted to live my freedom, i decided to startup my own IT firm even though its the most difficult thing any fresh graduate will ever think of. I paid the highest economic price for my freedom.
Now let me give you a clue to understand it. Graduates in my country (Nigeria) have one goal of going to school - to get a job. So normally, when you finish school, you start job hunting. 99.9% of graduates follow this route. So if you graduate, the odds are greatly against you to start up. For example, we do not have steady electricity, the best roads and other nice infrastructure. So to startup, you need to pay rent, Buy office furniture, buy electricity generator, do the rigorous business name registrations and wait for operational permit from the government, plus many other things i would not mention here. So you now understand that for a fresh graduate with now capital, it takes strong willpower to even think about setting up something. It takes courage - a lot of it- to start up.
This is the unpopular route i have chosen because i want to determine when i sleep. I want to visit friends when i wish. i want to vacation when i wish. I want to stay indoors when there is heavy rain. I want go the hospital without a written permission. i want to be free and express my freedom. i want to have my life.
Its been a very difficult road to go for freedom. Its been one of the most difficult things to do. freedom for me is very expensive. for example, my start-up IT firm is still growing at a slow pace because it lacks proper funding. My firm will be 1 year by next month. I do not have enough office furniture, computers and other hardware. plus other things. But i know that the determination to be free is stronger than any challenges i may face. I will get there. My small office firm was completely empty 11 months ago, but that cannot be said today. BIG THINGS START SMALL. The big IT company's one see today; most of them started out in garages. But see where they are today.
So in summary, i express my freedom with my whole life. Everything i do is because i am entirely free. I could not have entered this contest if i wasn't free. My colleagues in computer science who are employed (or should i say enslaved) woke around 5am and have rushed off to work to meet the 7.30am deadline. I do things when i wish. i am entirely free and i have a vision of empowering others to have their freedom and experience the kind of life i enjoy.
My little advice to you my reader: Do not sell your freedom for the peanuts they pay you. Even if you must work, it shouldnt be a lifetime career. Save to startup something in the future if not now. Your job is not hereditary (There is no next-of-kin. so your kids will not inherit it. They can only inherit the small startup you can make. And most important, you cannot be a slave forever; do not put your kids in that line. You need freedom. Your life needs freedom and you can have it.
FREEDOM IS THE SWEETEST THING EVER! TRULY, FREEDOM IS MY WAY OF LIFE
I do web designing with Wordpress. I also do blogging. You can check out my tech blog: http://itechdis.com/
Thanks for your time!