{"id":4933,"date":"2024-07-04T14:03:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T14:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/uncategorized\/happy-independence-day\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T21:29:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T21:29:40","slug":"happy-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/uncategorized\/happy-independence-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Independence Day!<\/a>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Independence Day! <\/p>\n

I’d love for you to reflect during today’s holiday (in the US) on what independence means to you. Is it:
\n— having enough money so you don’t have to work any more?
\n— choosing what you do each day?
\n— being free of family or social obligations that entangle you?
\n— having your basic needs (food, healthcare, housing) met?<\/p>\n

It could be any of these. It could be all of these. It could be something else. But whatever it is, I want you to consider how you will work towards that independence? What’s your plan? <\/p>\n

I am starting to frame independence for myself as taking responsibility for my choices. I can do what I want…if I am willing to accept the consequences. I don’t “have to” do anything, even though I often feel like I do. <\/p>\n

I don’t “have to” work each day…if I’m willing to live without income.
\nI don’t “have to” take care of my kids…if I’m wiling to abandon my family.
\nI don’t “have to” satisfy other people’s requests…if I’m willing to have them no longer like me.
\nI don’t “have to” exercise…if I’m willing to accept a body that is not functioning as well as it could.<\/p>\n

Independence for me is making choices and living with the consequences. I become more free when I let go of my preconceptions of what I think “should” happen. Instead, I am learning to accept my current situation as it is (not as I want it to be), and then consciously decide what to do next based on what I choose to value. <\/p>\n

Admittedly, I have a lot of privilege and don’t have to experience the headwinds of living in a system that is structured against me. I’ll let others who face such bias comment on whether such a framing of independence resonates with them.<\/p>\n

What does independence mean to you? <\/p>\n

P.S. The photo is from earlier this week when I chose to hike up a mountain with a 30 pound weight on my back. It felt great!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Independence Day! I’d love for you to reflect during today’s holiday (in the US) on what independence means to you. Is it: — having enough money so you don’t have to work any more? — choosing what you do each day? — being free of family or social obligations that entangle you? — having…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4933"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5002,"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4933\/revisions\/5002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehrlich.com\/linkedin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}