Day 194: Personal Power

Dear Reader,

I would like to share some Random Thoughts on personal power, on a Saturday morning (after an exhausting week at work and during a morning where I have just re-read two of my blog posts from earlier this year — Post One and Post Two).

(Why did I re-read those particular blog posts? Because I noticed that somebody in Finland had just read the first one and there was a link — or ping-back — in the first one to the second one.) (Talk about random ….)

Without further ado … (Jerry Seinfeld — or perhaps Garry Shandling — once said, “What is ‘ado’, anyway, and why should there be no further of it?”):

Random Thoughts About Personal Power

(“Random,” in this context, means, “I have no friggin’ clue how I am going to organize or choose among all the thoughts I am having about this, right now.”)

1. There are times, in our lives, when our personal power is greatly restricted or non-existent, to our detriment and pain.

Obviously, this is true if we are subjugated to unjust laws that restrict freedom and cause suffering.

This is also true if our role or position intrinsically has less power. (Being a child is just one example.)

2. Sometimes, it is difficult to figure out how much personal power we have in a situation. When we perceive that we are powerless, it is difficult to act. We might focus our energy and thoughts on survival, rather than on the possibility of change.

3. Often, we need the help of others to leverage and support our personal power.

And on a more personal note …

4. The Tiger (which has shown up in my blog posts here and — what amazed me this morning — in both the blog posts I referred to, above) might stand for anger…. or it might stand for Personal Power.

_________

Before I end this post for the day (so I can go out into the world and, perhaps, exercise some personal power, in some small way), I would like to tell you about a Worksheet I use in my groups.

I hand out worksheets, about topics that often come up in groups. These worksheets have a few questions on them. The participants write their thoughts down and then the group members share these thoughts and discuss them.

One of these worksheets is on the topic of Personal Power. The questions are something like this (I can’t access the exact language, because I am not at work today):

Worksheet on Personal Power

1. What does “personal power” mean to you?

2. What are some examples of times when you were able to exercise personal power? What are some times when you were not?

3. What gets in the way of you having personal power?

4. What helps you recognize and use your personal power?

_______________

(I am now letting go of judgment about how well I was able to remember those questions as well as judgment about the questions themselves.)

Okay, I now need to end this post, to obey the rules of time and space (and get to an appointment on time).

Thanks to all,
Ann