< PreviousPRICELESS FREEDOMBy Nichole Compton THE ENTREPRENEUR WOMAN'S GUIDE TOIf you can say that you have ONE...just one...true friend in life, you are more than blessed!” That is just one gem imparted to me by my best friend Jamila Harris Grant. Jamila was an angel and loved by everyone she met. That blessed me. The bigger blessing was the honor she called me her friend. People from around the world were overcome with sadness when Jamila revealed she hadStage 4 breast cancer. The unfortunate part is Jamila passed at age 34 leaving two young girls and a husband. Given only a mere 6 months to live (if she was lucky doctors said), she lived six years. At the time, my heart too was heavy and I felt helpless. The fortunate part for me was I WAS FREE. Not slaving away on the corporate plantation and working a 9 to 5 or longer job. I had freedom. Freedom is priceless. I owned my own business. Instead of returning to a Fortune 500 management job, I hung out my shingle. I remember walking into my newly rented downtown office suite. Diagnosed at 28, even to the doctor’s disbelief, Jamila immediately had a double mastectomy followed by years of treatments, remissions and newmedical issues. Even in Jamila’s worst physical state, she taught me the value of giving to others and, through this experience, the priceless value of having freedom to live in the moment and be around when it matters for those moments I would never get back. “Give loved ones their flowers while they are living,” Jamila frequently said. Freedom from working for myself allowed me to do just that and more. JWithin hours, we transformed the space. I was sohappy that day. Soon the following months made it clear justhow awesome the inherent freedom of being abusiness owner was. Working on my terms allows me the freedom tocreate my own schedule. No boss. No mandatorytime clock to punch. No trapped behind a deskwith mandatory overtime. Nope! Life and work on my terms. The last breaths Jamila took…I was present.More notable, I was present for just about everyday before that as well. I spent the last months of my best friend's lifewith her…..living! Living with freedom to live! With pleasure and honor, I volunteered totransport Jamila comfortably to all her doctors,specialists and chemotherapy appointments, tolay at the foot of the bed when she could notmove on bad days or she just wanted to loungeand watch lifetime movies, and even to escorther to volunteer functions. I never slacked or missed a beat. Instead, Ilearned how to plan and schedule work aroundwhat is important. amila came to see just what she needed to make it classy… to put “her” touch on it as only she could do. AI diligently ensured my schedule allowed me to give my clients balanced counsel and superb service, be a better business owner and attorney, and to my family and friends, love and flowers. From then on, I purposefully scheduled what she and I coined as “me days,” in which we did something fun or self-help, even if it was a stroll through a local thrift shop, a coffee break while people watching or a noon picnic in the park. I made sure to schedule my clients and meetings around motherhood, eating lunch with my son at his school, attending every field trip and transporting him to school. I even have the added freedom of showing others how to achieve the same freedom from entrepreneurship and the ability to provide jobs for young people in my firm. Jamila was always full of great advice, and the best one was “Time is one thing you can never make more of, so live every day to the fullest and make sure you do not waste any.” My best advice is to listen to Jamila. Freedom is priceless. Use it wisely. Be the best for your business. Plan family time, give flowers, and love, and take “Me” days. They are necessities and are not optional. fter Jamila passed, I realized the awesomeness of such a precious opportunity.People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use - Søren KierkegaardWHAT IS FREEDOM?By Jodi Reeves What does freedom mean to you? We seek it, we desire it but do we know what it means to us? If you google the definition of freedom you will see it defined as …. ”the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants” So why in a country, in a society where we have freedom of speech and equal rights and for most of us the right to say, think and do what we please, why are so many people seeking freedom rather than living it? s it an abstract ideal you seek or is it a defined place with measurable parameters? How will you know when you've reached it? How will you know when you are finally free, when you finally have the freedom you seek? If you don’t know who you are at your core, who you uniquely and authentically are as an individual how will you know when you feel free, when you have attained freedom? Can you ever feel true freedom without acknowledging, connecting with and knowing who you are at your core? Who you are quirks and all!! I don’t think freedom can be truly felt until we know who we authentically are and connect with that incredible person! Ialso think that freedom may have been inadvertently challenged THE PERFECT PARENT THE PERFECT STUDENT THE PERFECT CHILD THE PERFECT SON/DAUGHTER THE PERFECT PARTNERTHE PERFECT FRIENDTHE PERFECT EMPLOYEE THE PERFECT BUSINESS OWNER THE PERFECT WRITER THE LIST GOES ON . . . I SEE SO MANY PEOPLE TRYING TO BE PERFECT...Iby the desire or drive to be perfect and the need to get somewhere other than where you are. Perfection is judged or ruled by those outside of us. How others judge us to be. How others see us. The pursuit of perfection is rarely driven by our internal desires or passion but by our need to be seen a certain way. To ensure others like us, or even admire us. To ensure we aren’t judged harshly by others. To gain acceptance. Can we therefore strive for perfection and freedom? I don’t think so! Perfection is judged, usually by others, so often by unidentified standards. Perfection is something we fruitlessly strive for. Freedom is a feeling and an acceptance that you are worthy, you are enough, you are unique, you are perfectly imperfect, just as you are. What about when we are constantly striving for something we don’t yet have. When we are always working for and focusing on a goal, on the future, on possibilities, on the next thing. I don’t think this is freedom either. Freedom is being in this moment or it doesn’t exist. Focusing on and appreciating the now, the you in this moment, regardless of where you currently sit on the timeline of any of your goals, is where freedom resides. So what do I think freedom is? Freedom is knowing you. Freedom is being honest. Freedom is being you. Freedom is accepting you are doing your best in this moment. Freedom is acting based on your passions, your desires, the calling of your soul. Freedomis now. Ask your self “What is freedom to me? What would it take for me to feel free now?” Freedom is a feeling, not a place, not a thing, not an achievement. Freedom is a feeling and acceptance of your power within you! And here is the key …. You are free to believe whatever you choose to believe freedom is! Don’t let me tell you and don’t let anyone else!! Your freedom, your definition, is up to you. Next >