Personal Power: Use it or Lose It!

On one of our past radio shows we had a discussion about why we might fear owning our personal power. Here are some thoughts that emerged in that discussion:

1. Lack of awareness or clear definition about what personal power is

2. Lack of knowledge about HOW to claim it

3. Beliefs about power that keep us small, constricted or conflicted

We have had many discussions among ourselves over the years and here are some things we have discovered.

Personal power
Is having the ability to create and live your life from our best/whole self
It is not power over anybody or wielding great influence in the world
Is about  self mastery and creating life from the inside out
Allows for more presence to the moment and thus a richer, deeper experience of life
External success may be an outcome but it is not a driving force or primary goa.

Personal power from this viewpoint is “owning all your parts” and nurturing them so that your best self can find its best expression in your world. All else flows from there.

Energy and Personal Power
Understanding our energetic nature helps to simplify the task of owning our personal power and all our “parts”. Energy and the consciousness within it is the vehicle of our inner power. When we know how to harness and manage it we are much better able to address power and all its manifestations.

Building or Depleting Energy
As we are mind, body and spirit and we can view any one of those aspects and see a myriad of ways that we either build or dissipate energy with and through them. A general rule of thumb is that when we add to our inner resources we are empowering ourselves and when we detract from those resources we dis-empower ourselves.

For now let’s just look at the mind and how we either contribute or detract from our energy resources through it in our daily lives.

Dis-empowering, energy draining mind habits

Criticizing self or others

Judgments

Blaming

Obsessive thinking, analyzing

Excessive ruminating on the past

Over preoccupation and anxiety about the future

Identifying with stories of being a victim of life/others/past

Emphasis on what is wrong—with self, other, situations

Empowering, energizing mind habits

Focus on maintaining an inner state of peace–an attitude of ease

Freely choosing to place thoughts on genuine positive thoughts

Present moment awareness ( fully present in the now without judgment)

Recognition that others have and are entitled to their perspective

Commitment to noticing beauty

Make it a game to become aware of happy moments

Make breathing deeply, fully and easily a habit–quiets the mind

Actively choose to release habitual negative thoughts

Mind Matters: How we use our minds affects every aspect of our lives so it seems reasonable and desirable to master ourselves at this level so we can be at cause in our lives rather than suffering effects!