I'm glad to see some users claiming that it hasn't changed their life all that much. That's the thing with Bitcoin, it gets built up like its a miracle worker, and don't get me wrong for a lot of people it has been revolutionary, however not everyone has the same objectives.
For example, the benefits that Bitcoin bring like not relying on a third party, can actually have drawbacks if you're a certain type of person. I don't like to give this example, but I sometimes find that the older generation are much more comfortable with trusting a bank, simply because they haven't kept up with technology, and therefore don't trust themselves to manage their own money, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Someone like me on the other hand, are incredibly suspicious of banks, and find their additional checks, and process too long. I've had payments flagged up, which I then had to confirm my identity, and all of that, but with Bitcoin I can just pay without those additional checks. At the end of the day, it's my money, that I legally earned, so I shouldn't have to go through additional checks. Obviously, I do understand why they do it, it's to prevent fraud, and unauthorised use of your card or bank, but that's something I'd like to be able to opt out of, which you can't with every major bank I've used.
Obviously, that's just one example of the restrictions imposed by using a third party like a bank, but there's many more which either suit a person or don't. Bitcoin hasn't made me stinking rich, but it has aided the life I wanted to have, and by that I mean more freedom, not because I've got more money, but because I ultimately control every aspect about my finances.
It is a great experience, and the best thing is that the things that can be improved and if it is helped by Bitcoin is always something gratifying, I would have liked to have believed in bitcoin in 2009 when I was in college, and I confused it with the jobs that were they did with clicks online, a friend managed to get many bitcoins through a faucet at that time, and yes, he kept all his bitcoins in a wallet with his private key, in 2017 I found him, he told me about Bitcoin again and I started in a more serious way and the fact of having bitcoin improved my life a lot, it's like you say, freedom is one of the things that Bitcoin has given me, oh and by the way, my friend lost all the data on that pendrive, that is, lost millions of dollars.