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When life seems to overwhelm us, we can drift
into a sense of being powerless. What a miserable state to
find ourselves in. It easily leads to discouragement, self-pity,
and even depression. So how do we get reconnected to power?
And what is power, anyway?
To answer these riddles we need to begin with
an assumption – one that is sometimes hard to swallow: Each
of us is responsible for the conditions in our lives, and
we have the capacity change anything about those conditions,
if we commit to it. It’s a promise about power and a reminder
that we are constantly co-creators of our life situation.
We have access to extraordinary power, if
we will simply understand what power is really all about.
That’s a big “if,” as the saying goes. We fail to achieve
self-empowerment largely because we don’t grasp the deeper
meaning of power. Our lives become enslaved to worries, limitations,
and doubts, all in large measure because we’ve gotten tricked
into buying into superficial explanations of power. Just think
about this word and all the meanings it has in our modern
world. No wonder we get confused about power and personal
empowerment.
People crave power. The world respects it.
Power is that elusive commodity that everyone promises, but
no one seems quite to understand. Power is the capacity to
get things done. It is energy – sometimes pure and raw, sometimes
purposefully directed. Horsepower, atomic power, the power
of love.
Power often connotes getting your way. Willpower,
military power, people power. Other times, power is influence.
It is a force that shapes, manipulates or controls – such
as political power, the power of suggestion, and, yes, even
a higher, spiritual power.
All these images
of power suggest that it must surely be a paradox.
It has two sides which may seem to contradict each other.
For example, to have one kind of power, you must make an effort
and work for it. But then, when you get it, you may find it
turns on itself, and you may become corrupted by it – even
becoming its slave. What a dilemma.
But consider another aspect of power, one
that almost magically comes to you as you trust and surrender.
A higher, spiritual power can move through your life only
if you don’t try to grasp it. Resurrection is possible only
if there is first a release through surrender in some form.
As Jesus taught, to save your life you must be willing to
lose your life.
And so we have two ingredients, related and
yet seemingly at odds with each other: personal power and
a Higher Power. How can any
sense be made of all these contradictions? But these mysterious
contradictions cannot be circumvented, not if we want to understand
and live an authentic spiritual path. Paradox is the essence
of spiritual teachings – be it teachings that come from Jesus,
the Buddha, or any other genuine master. And so, the key to
self-empowerment is simply this: always strive to do the best
you can with what you have at hand, but also be willing “at-the-drop-of-a-hat”
to surrender and give up all personal effort.
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