Freedom isn't free! Thoughts from a driving lesson.

Here I am, 26 years old, learning how to drive.

Why haven't I learned sooner? I recently moved away from my home in Edinburgh, Scotland to pursue something new in a not-so-foreign, nor unfamiliar land called America. I've lived in Edinburgh almost all my life. Edinburgh has EXCELLENT public transport, thus, there was never any real need or pressure for me to learn! I could just jump on a bus or a train to get where I needed to go. And it was great! And fairly cheap too! And convenient! And I miss the excellent public transport very much, amongst other things (such as people).

In the course of learning how to drive (FYI, I've only been driving for 2wks!) there are some key truths that I have collided with (forgive the cheese!).

Namely, freedom is not free!

You see driving gives you great freedom. You can hop in the car and run yourself where ever your little heart desires. But that freedom comes at a price. It demands responsibility from you first before you earn the freedom it brings.

At this stage, I have not earned the freedom part of driving. I am still a student of the responsibilities that are associated with operating machinery on public thoroughfares in a safe and defensive manner. There is so much to think about when behind the wheel-the signs, the speedlimits, the proximity of other cars, pedestrians etc. Until I have these things more firmly established in my heart, the freedom part will not come.

With freedom comes the responsibility to STEWARD it wisely-not just for your benefit, but for the wellbeing of those around you. If you walk in freedom without knowing how to manage it, you can do all kinds of stupid and destructive things to yourself and others.

I want to exercise my freedoms in such a way that I am aware of the responsibilities associated with them, and that I manage my freedoms in a way that is not only lifegiving to myself, but lifegiving to others around me. We so often demand rights or freedoms without considering the associated responsibilities that go with them. I now have the freedom to vote because of others who have gone before me, who contended for that freedom, and paid the price for it. But at the same time, my freedom to vote, demands responsibility from me. My greatest freedom, came at the greatest price. A price I will never be able to repay. But a freedom nonetheless which gives me the responsibility (really its an honor) to share that freedom with others.

Freedom isn't free.