This quote is reminiscent of other adages we’ve heard before, right? – “When the student is ready the teacher appears”… “Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear”, etc…
One of the very first steps in the empowerment of self is to take responsibility for your own feelings and the results you’ve been getting in life thus far. It isn’t really about blame or fault. That probably doesn’t help much. Instead, consider the implications of the word ‘responsibility’. – Your ability to respond!
The word ‘react’ might be similar to the word ‘respond’ in the dictionary but colloquially, the nuance of meaning conveys something different. I experience reactions as reflexive with less volition involved whereas, responses seem to hold the possibility of being planned, chosen or reasoned out.
In NLP and some personal growth circles, you will hear the quote “Nothing is your fault; Everything is your responsibility”. Of course, we aren’t responsible for things outside of our control. For example, we don’t control other people’s feelings. Their feelings are their own but we DO have the ability to manage our OWN feelings. That is something we can take responsibility for. And for as much as we co-create our experiences, we ARE responsible for our results in life! – Even when something happens that we didn’t expect or plan for, who else could take responsibility for it other than us?
We have FAR more influence on our results than we give ourselves credit for and it seems that THE MORE responsibility we accept for ourselves, our condition, and our results, THE MORE influence we can exert on reality. It’s almost as if taking responsibility at deeper and deeper levels opens up a world of influence hitherto unrealized!
What I’ve expressed here isn’t an easy path, for sure, but it IS a worthwhile pursuit if your desire is to become more empowered. And by ‘becoming more empowered’ I mean realizing how much power you’ve had all along! It may be gradual, small incremental realizations or broad and sweeping leaps into new dimensions of personal power. Some make quantum leaps while others step steadily onward a little bit at a time. Each to their own and by whatever means is necessary.
A definition of empowerment, within this framework, could be, the degree in which a person’s locus of control is intrinsic. – The more intrinsic that locus of control feels, the more empowered you are. This is a good barometer and will indicate how readily you will be able to make changes in yourself and in your life.
So, if you hope for a better life, ask yourself how empowered you are using the barometer mentioned above. Depending on your answer, you may be in a position to alter the course of your life and begin creating the life you want. If you’re not feeling very empowered then, you can use your resources to learn how to do so! Either way, you might be in a position to change your life for the better and the only thing you need to do is take the first tangible step and reach out!
“Rome wasn’t built in a day” BUT…“An inch of meditation; An inch of Buddhahood”!
Today CAN be the first day of the rest of your life…What are you doing right now, to create your future the way you want it to feel?
And since this post is rife with quotes, why not end with another:
If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
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