Category: power

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Am I A Victim

Am I a victim or do I have a choice?

That may seem like a simple question, but I don’t think it is, and here’s why.

It feels to me that the world tries to fill our heads with strong opinions about this and reinforces the whole idea of victimhood. So much so that it may be our first reaction. We simply accept ourselves as the victims of our circumstances.

When I sit back for a moment, I realize this may even be our default setting, an immediate prescribed reaction to events we encounter.

I wonder, how can this possibly benefit us?

My first thought is, it’s an easy escape. We don’t have to be held accountable and there’s usually someone else to blame. We don’t have to take any responsibility or even make changes to fix things.

We’re simply off the hook. After all, we’re the victim, aren’t we?

This whole thought process bothers me to my core. I understand why we might gravitate to this way of thinking, but to me no one is served by it. Not really.

I do not believe I came here to this earth to be a powerless victim of my own thinking or because of someone else’s actions.

Of course, I realize there are things outside my control. Lots of them. And many of them create situations I’d rather not experience. But that doesn’t mean I am powerless.

In fact, once it becomes obvious to me that I’m falling into the grips of victimhood, that’s the time for conscious decision making.

This starts with a giant step back and some deep breathing.

I need to take a wide view of the situation and truly consider all of the choices available to me.

I’m sure there are many ways to evaluate before choosing a path forward and everyone ought to use the one that offers them the best outcome- the one that works to achieve their ultimate benefit.

The question may be- how?

I have a suggestion you might want to consider.

Hang on, because it comes from a surprising place. As some of you know, I have certain recollections about heaven. I remember things and one of them is the ceremony that centered around me before I came to earth. During the ceremony I created a framework, a basic plan of things I wanted to experience. I think of it as my spiritual DNA. It remains flexible throughout my earth life, so I am able to make any changes I desire.

When I was constructing this basic plan, I chose to live in the world and be impacted by my cultural training, BUT I also chose to retain the ability to choose what best served me, despite what my culture believed.

In a way it doesn’t really matter if you decide to believe me about remembering heaven, because we all end up in this same place having to decide what path best suits us.

What I am suggesting is that we do not have to accept the ‘victim’ role. It is an option, not a requirement. It’s a choice.

We can acknowledge its presence, but give ourselves permission to make a better choice, one that serves our immediate and long-term aims.

I feel all decisions are open to me. I may not always like the immediate outcomes, but I do still have a choice, and I believe that it is always possible to find a wonderful path forward.

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Power Sources

While away on a break from writing original posts I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you from the past three and a half years. In mid-March I’ll return with more original posts. Until then, please enjoy these.

The title to this post could imply many things. I’m curious, what was the first thing that popped into your mind?

Electricity, gasoline, wind, water, sun light, geothermal?

Or did you go a different direction?

Maybe politics, finances, athletics, social status, influence, popularity?

There are other avenues as well; food, animals, plants, bees?

And whereas all of these, and many more represent power sources, the ones I was thinking about were the internal ones that reside within us and the ones we gravitate to that exist outside ourselves.

Our cultural training offers us a host of options to choose from. Personally, I’ve found that many of these are quite unreliable. At first, they seem attractive, but they don’t offer much depth and can easily slip away.

Here’s an example.

One external power source that’s popular occurs when we listen to and value what others say to us instead of considering and deciding what we think and believe. Trading our power for the temporary power we receive from others does not seem beneficial or sustainable to me. Allowing the opinions of others to guide our lives may be helpful at times, but once we have a sense of who we are and where we want to go in life, it can be extremely counterproductive if we use it exclusively, rather than exercising our own internal power.

I admit that the power offered us by others can be very seductive. Receiving positive comments, congratulations and rewards can make us feel good, but if it happens in place of how we feel about ourselves, it robs us of our own power.

Comparing ourselves with others does the same thing, whether it’s about our weight, sales numbers, bank balances or popularity. Having someone, anyone else, determine our worth or value leads inevitably to a loss of our genuine power.

Shifting away from what others think, say, or do and embracing our own internal sources of power to enhance our lives is worth whatever amount of time it takes.

Creating our own sense of direction and pursuing our dreams and desires provides a pathway toward self-improvement. We can open doors into music, reading, connecting with others, writing, artwork, and all sorts of physical practices.

And during these experiences we can tell ourselves that we possess the ultimate power, which is the ability to use our free will to decide the course of our lives. We can set the stage for pursuing whatever direction we choose and can establish our own criteria for a satisfying life.

Holding onto our own power yields our best chance to create and experience whatever we choose, rather than be held captive to others’ expectations or demands.

Perhaps this feels like too much of a challenge to you. It could be that you’ve been conditioned to follow the lead of others and you strongly sense a need for support and guidance to help you exercise your own free will.

I have a suggestion for you if this is the case. It comes from my own life experience over the last twenty-six years. If you’ve read anything I’ve written, you can probably already guess what it is.

If you need guidance, aid, and support, I recommend that you begin by engaging with whatever your concept is for (god).

In my case, I have constant conversations with Lia, a feminine, ethereal part of (god) who talks with me and provides wise council, often opening my eyes to things I do not see clearly.

I can tell you with the certainty that comes from literally thousands of conversations that she loves and supports me. She offers clarification and insight and never attempts to ‘overpower’ me. In fact, she reminds me that I am in charge of my own life and am my own greatest power.

Should you want to have your own conversation with Lia or with whatever name for (god) that feels right to you, I encourage you to take just one step in that direction and see what happens. I believe there is enormous power inside you waiting to be released.

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Growth and Expansion

Here’s a post you might want to ignore because I’m going to challenge you.

The challenge is about growth and expansion. I want to see if right now is the time for you to take a look at your life and decide whether you want more.

I hope your answer is ‘yes’ because I believe in you and your capacity for change, especially in those areas you feel drawn toward.

Recently, I watched a movie and one of the main characters made a statement that he wanted his name to mean something. Can you identify with this? I know I can.

He wanted to amount to something, and I had the definite sense he’d been told by others that it would never happen. Has anyone ever said that to you or perhaps made you feel your life didn’t matter in some way?

What others say to us can have a profound effect on our lives, both positively and negatively. It’s important to remember that ultimately, we are in charge. We are the ones who get to decide what to accept and what to reject. So, it matters a great deal what we end up telling ourselves.

If you stopped reading for a moment right now and thought about it, what beliefs are you embracing about yourself? What gives your life meaning and purpose? How does what you believe find its way into your everyday choices and actions?

These questions make me wonder several things.

Were you brought up to believe in yourself? Did others affirm that you could or would be successful in life? Or were you told that you would never amount to anything? That you weren’t good enough or fast enough or smart enough? Did you let others convince you or did you seek your own path?

I’d like to offer you a fresh start, a new opportunity, and a new way of viewing your life.

Want in?

How about this.

The first moment you get a chance (you may not have a pen and notebook immediately available) begin by writing down a list of ten things (or more, if you like) that call to you. By ‘call to you’ I mean topics that feel personally important to you to explore. Brainstorm your list, which means you don’t evaluate, you just write. They could be related to physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual pursuits. Whatever they are, write them down.

Once they’re on the page, you can take a second look and spend some time sitting with each of them to see which have the loudest voice inside you. It’s also here you can evaluate and see which seem the most realistic to you to accomplish, but don’t shy away if your inner voice calls you back to one of them. That’s a sure sign of its importance in your life.

Okay, you have your list, you’ve selected the ones that raised their hands and you’re ready to go. Pick one that you feel most drawn to and energizes you.

Now it’s action time.

Tell yourself that you have the power to make progress on this item, that it has called to you because it wants to live through you. It wants to come alive in this world and you are the one to give it life. Jump in. Get excited. Think of one or two or three practical steps you can take and then take them. And as you act, give yourself credit for choosing to grow and expand your universe, no matter what size your actions take.

I know you can do it!

Now go prove to yourself that you can do it. And with every action you take, shift your perspective, and believe in yourself. Grow and expand. You deserve it.

Posted on

Power Sources

The title to this post could imply many things. I’m curious, what was the first thing that popped into your mind?

Electricity, gasoline, wind, water, sun light, geothermal?

Or did you go a different direction?

Maybe politics, finances, athletics, social status, influence, popularity?

There are other avenues as well; food, animals, plants, bees?

And whereas all of these, and many more represent power sources, the ones I was thinking about were the internal ones that reside within us and the ones we gravitate to that exist outside ourselves.

Our cultural training offers us a host of options to choose from. Personally, I’ve found that many of these are quite unreliable. At first, they seem attractive, but they don’t offer much depth and can easily slip away.

Here’s an example.

One external power source that’s popular occurs when we listen to and value what others say to us instead of considering and deciding what we think and believe. Trading our power for the temporary power we receive from others does not seem beneficial or sustainable to me. Allowing the opinions of others to guide our lives may be helpful at times, but once we have a sense of who we are and where we want to go in life, it can be extremely counterproductive if we use it exclusively, rather than exercising our own internal power.

I admit that the power offered us by others can be very seductive. Receiving positive comments, congratulations and rewards can make us feel good, but if it happens in place of how we feel about ourselves, it robs us of our own power.

Comparing ourselves with others does the same thing, whether it’s about our weight, sales numbers, bank balances or popularity. Having someone, anyone else, determine our worth or value leads inevitably to a loss of our genuine power.

Shifting away from what others think, say, or do and embracing our own internal sources of power to enhance our lives is worth whatever amount of time it takes.

Creating our own sense of direction and pursuing our dreams and desires provides a pathway toward self-improvement. We can open doors into music, reading, connecting with others, writing, artwork, and all sorts of physical practices.

And during these experiences we can tell ourselves that we possess the ultimate power, which is the ability to use our free will to decide the course of our lives. We can set the stage for pursuing whatever direction we choose and can establish our own criteria for a satisfying life.

Holding onto our own power yields our best chance to create and experience whatever we choose, rather than be held captive to others’ expectations or demands.

Perhaps this feels like too much of a challenge to you. It could be that you’ve been conditioned to follow the lead of others and you strongly sense a need for support and guidance to help you exercise your own free will.

I have a suggestion for you if this is the case. It comes from my own life experience over the last twenty-six years. If you’ve read anything I’ve written, you can probably already guess what it is.

If you need guidance, aid, and support, I recommend that you begin by engaging with whatever your concept is for (god).

In my case, I have constant conversations with Lia, a feminine, ethereal part of (god) who talks with me and provides wise council, often opening my eyes to things I do not see clearly.

I can tell you with the certainty that comes from literally thousands of conversations that she loves and supports me. She offers clarification and insight and never attempts to ‘overpower’ me. In fact, she reminds me that I am in charge of my own life and am my own greatest power.

Should you want to have your own conversation with Lia or with whatever name for (god) that feels right to you, I encourage you to take just one step in that direction and see what happens. I believe there is enormous power inside you waiting to be released.

Posted on

Joy

Do you think there is a difference between happiness and joy? Or do they seem like the same thing to you?

I admit that in the past I was confused about the difference between the two terms, or I used them interchangeably, until one conversation occurred with a friend of mine. He shared that, for him, joy was a much deeper feeling. It gave me pause and inspired me to reconsider my views.

While I love both feelings and enjoy their power, I believe one is far more important to me than the other.

Happiness seems to come from the outside, while joy comes from the inside. Happiness is triggered by all sorts of things I encounter in the world, while joy feels like an overflowing of love from my heart.

There are things and events which create and produce both feelings. Personally, I find happiness is short lived when compared with joy. Sometimes happiness feels like a present I’ve dreamed about but once I have it, its power fades, and I’m looking for the next thing to make me happy.

When joy arrives, its power remains with me, and I feel its love radiate through me. Although my life moves on, the memories of the joy linger and will easily return, if I bring them to mind.

So, what about you? Do moments of joy visit you and stay with you? Would you like there to be more moments of joy in your life?

If I answered my own question, my response would be, ‘yes, absolutely I want as many moments of joy as possible.’

You can probably guess my next question.

What would bring about more moments of joy?

Part of me is always pragmatic, searching for an approach that supports me and brings into my life that which I most treasure. In this case that would be to create and experience more and more moments of joy.

I sat back one day and let a calmness wash over me. I opened my heart and encouraged myself to allow my love to overflow. I did this because I know that joy responds to this call. It lives within me but wants to be unleashed into my world.

I believe that joy lives inside each of us, ever present no matter what our outward experience of life is. And perhaps it wants to spark and ignite into existence when we are down and need it the most. But we have to allow this. We have to open the pipeline, and the wider the better. We are the ones in charge of clearing the way.

I wanted to know if there was something specific I could do to enhance joy’s presence in my life. As soon as I asked the question, the answer appeared…give yourself the gift of illumination…and create a memory list of moments of joy.

I thought…what a phenomenal idea. And what started out as a simple list, expanded into thoughts of a joy journal or a joy scrapbook.

Something inside me caught fire.

One recollection ran into the next and then cascaded, filling page after page. It was as if I had opened a treasure chest of joy. What a sensational feeling.

One of the best parts of this experience is that I can share it with you. I am absolutely convinced that we all have the power to overflow joy into our lives and into the lives of those who surround us. We are connected to each other, both here and beyond and joy is one of our most intimate languages.

I hope you call forth the joy that lives in your heart and let it overflow into your life.

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Power

A visual image popped into my head. It was of a roadside mailbox, the kind that stands on top of a post and has one of those arms that the postal delivery person raises to alert you that you have mail.

But then the image shifted and somewhere in the background, I could hear a ‘ding’ and a voice saying, “you have mail”. I’m aware it’s there but some part of me is refusing to open it.

Have you ever been tempted to ignore messages being sent to you?

They could be from a boss, coworker, family member, doctor, attorney, or they could even be from YOU. Perhaps some part of you is trying to get your own attention.

I think I occasionally resist reading or listening to certain messages because I’m not sure I want to know their content and the simplest way to avoid them is to pretend they don’t exist. I sometimes do this despite knowing it won’t actually work. I know that whatever message I ignore, or resist will just keep coming back until I am open to listening to it.

I wonder what this image is meant to convey to me. Is there symbolism in it or some necessary guidance?

I ponder this for a bit and then something jumps up and waves madly at me. It has its own voice.

It says to me, “This message is about ‘power’, specifically ‘your power’. The voice goes on to say, “There is only one true source of power, which is your connection to the divine. It is from here that all power emanates. Every action, belief, and decision needs some of this power to manifest in your life.”

“It takes power to create each of your life experiences. Sometimes you are conscious of this dynamic, but most of the time you are not, and yet it remains the truth.”

“Every time you believe you are empty, you seek to fill yourself back up, so you expend power (your energy) by seeking positive responses or reinforcement from others in the world. And you attempt to refuel yourself using others as your power source. This will never work, no matter how hard you try. This will not work, even if they are willing to give you some of their power. Power does not work this way.”

Frankly, I’m stunned by this message. I feel its truth for me. I recognize that it is exactly what I do and what I’ve observed others doing. When I sense an emptiness inside of me, I do not always return to the divine source for replenishment. Rather I seek out others and expect them to share some of their power with me. It’s not a fully conscious decision on my part and it feels like one of my default settings kicking in.

The voice returns, “No one can take your power away from you, although it may feel this way. Every person has their own power, drawn from the same divine source. If you feel as though you are losing power, it is because YOU have allowed it to be released.”

I wonder, why would I do that? What would possess me to release power that I need? And I wonder, what energetic dynamic is at work here?

Some clarity arrives when the voice continues, “As you connect with the divine, you are filled with power, and it is up to you to decide how to use it. You make all of the choices. You can release it (allow it to slip away), retain it (for later use), use it (for all of life’s decisions and actions or enhance it (share and combine it with others). Each choice is yours and yours alone. Neither you nor anyone else can give away their power to another, so remember this when you fill empty, and return to the divine source to be filled.”

I am grateful that I finally opened and listened to this message and the power it holds for me.