Want personal freedom but stuck by social situations?

Seeking personal freedom but interrupted by societies social constructs? Social Oppression?

''Social oppression is at work when the ways of others diminish who we are or stop us from pursuing our own goals. Often the most highly adaptive among us are the least aware of this process, and often they are socially the least successful and authentic--they have adapted into a predictable character and have lost their spontaneity and authenticity. They do not recognize themselves any longer in the mirror; they have forfeited their individuality; they are but caricatures of collective preference. No free thinking person wants such a fate, and so we must be eternally vigilant in refusing the desire to conform.

Yet, the sense of security people get from conformity cannot be understated; it is one of the great enemies of Personal Freedom. The structures an rewards of society give order to an individual. But job titles, raises, ''Mr.'' And ''Mrs.,'' positions on advisory boards, and public acclaim rarely give us deep meaning. They can indeed make it easier to be confident in our direction. If we follow in preordained paths what others are doing, then we can get signals that we are on track and that we will likely be accepted But what if we chase all that and believe in all that and then one day awake to find those things aren't what matter most?

How many have given up their dreams in order to follow a more secure and profitable and socially accepted path? The aims of others (our parents, our teachers, our spouses, our fans) become OUR aims if we are not vigilant. Their certitude can replace our quest for something new. Their collective meaning can subjugate our search for our individual meaning. We can quickly lose ourselves in others and in our culture. We become slaves to opinion.

A difficult choice must there must therefore be made between the comforts of fitting in and pleasing others and our higher motive for Personal Freedom. This choice is easier once we reach the levels of maturity and enlightenment that allow us to see that we can be individually free but not entirely apart from our culture and those we love, that independence does not preclude interdependence, that individual uniqueness does not mean we must be social or spiritually distant outcasts. We learn that the more we are true to ourselves, the more we can connect with and contribute to the world. We find that the more free and spontaneous and authentic we become, the more our motivation and aliveness returns and the more others are attracted to us and want to be around us.''

-The Motivation Manifesto