Introduction to Power
Power.
It is a force of nature with growth potential limited only by our capability to wield it effectively. There are all kinds of power, and we will be touching on many of their forms, but for this series we will be primarily focusing on power from the inside-out—and the influence or control that it is capable of delivering in your favor.
What do we mean by this?
By inside-out, we mean the focus on your own capabilities within your own person. Not power to be bought or sold, won in an election, or stolen from others. You can develop this power regardless of your age, job title, or financial status. The application is open to anyone who is ready to do the work. We are talking about the practice of nurturing what your own character, talents, hard work, and study have to offer. This is a crop undamaged by wind or drought, available to grow and flourish or dry and die depending entirely on your dedication to tending, growing, weeding out the pests, and bringing it to full harvest.
How do we tend this crop?
Through painstaking diligence and practice.
I’m sorry to say, there is no short-cut. But, once achieved, unlike it’s other counterparts, it cannot be taken away. Inside-out power centers within yourself—there are no gates of barbed wire, no revolutions required, no rulers to overthrow... and interestingly enough: you growing in your capacity does not lessen another person’s ability of doing likewise. This kind of power isn’t finite; it is infinite. An unlimited source; a powerful force from within.
...Speaking of “force”...
...It’s a lot like Star Wars, actually.
Think of the Jedi structure. You have the light and the dark sides of the force—or power source—and you have the capabilities of practicing them, growing them, and using them to guide and guard you. The light serves to influence for the good—it’s your “better angels”—to fight for others, to strive for hope, to build a reserve of strength and courage you can tap into when the times get hard and you are up against the strongest of enemies. Likewise, the dark side can pull you in and corrupt you with selfish intent to use it to control and destroy the spirits of others (and ultimately, yourself.)
Miriam Webster defines “power” as force, energy, strength, the ability to exert effort. Power may imply latent or exerted physical, mental, or spiritual ability to act or be acted upon. Power is action, power is intent, power is actually already yours... it’s in the resistance to evil, the fight for survival, the fight to succeed, the “being a good neighbor,” and the “watching out for the other guy.”
Power is, well, powerful. It affects change. It holds a seductive nature...and much like “The Force” can wage an internal war requiring diligent management as your resources grow. But having that tool is your ultimate investment when all other resources seem to escape you.
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
~ Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl