Intentionally Reclaiming Our Power
August 25th, 2007 by John Wolfe
It took a long time for me to completely grasp the concept of the power and potential that not only flows through each one of us, but that is each one of us. For years, I never fully acknowledged the main metaphysical principle, which all of my reading, discussions, and experiences seemed to be pointing toward. I used to spend time around people that were interested in the same metaphysical subjects, yet as soon as they would start referencing ideas pertaining to a supreme power within the Universe and within ourselves, I would feel myself becoming extremely rigid. I’d typically leave the conversation with a slight chip on my shoulder, usually accompanied by an eye roll directed toward what had just been discussed.
It’s amazing when I look back on those times because I considered myself open minded, yet I now realize that I was approaching my existence from a point of disempowerment. While I was always fired up to talk about spirits, reincarnation, and all manner of supernatural subject matter, I wasn’t capable of acknowledging the basis for why these occurrences were even possible in the first place.
I chose to view every event in my life (metaphysical or otherwise) as a random occurrence, with no order whatsoever. This approach translated over to many of my personal interactions as well. Honestly, I reveled in being able to look to others and lay the blame at their door anytime something in my life went in an undesirable direction. By continuing to view the circumstances, I was living, as being someone else’s fault; I could continue wallowing in a form of denial about my existence. It was always their issue or their fault and while, at times, it truly could have been their fault- that attitude was not serving me in a beneficial manner.
The more willing I was to pass the buck, the more closed off I became to acknowledging responsibility for my life. The less willing I was to acknowledge my responsibility, the easier it was to randomly look around, blaming others as their actions would elicit undesirable responses within me. I was not ready to accept ownership for every event, decision, situation and outcome that unfolded in my life, regardless of whose fault it seemed to be.
I believe it was a combination of these revelations, deep within me, that was being evoked by the metaphysical conversations I would have with others. Since I was not willing to face this fact, I would deny it and then suppress it. It was easier to stiffen up, roll my eyes and forget about what those “crazy” people thought, than it was to ultimately strive for the intentional reclamation of my power.
I call it an intentional reclamation because we have always had this power; however most of us spend a large portion of our lives unaware. Even in our greatest states of depression and feelings of disempowerment we are the ones who placed ourselves there. For me, the three keys to this reclamation lie in: acknowledging responsibility, feeling for our individual freedom, and valuing self or self worth.
I believe the only way to completely comprehend our mystical/spiritual creative power is to fully embrace the fact we are one hundred percent responsible for every single circumstance within our lives. This is sometimes a pretty tough pill to swallow. At first it may seem, by doing this, we are making ourselves a doormat or scapegoat for others, but accepting responsibility doesn’t mean we roll over and play dead. It’s actually the exact opposite.
To look around us and cast blame is extremely easy, and in essence is much closer to playing (or being) dead than what I’m suggesting. Constantly using external sources as the fall guy prevents us from truly living, or at least living in a way that allows us to become intentional with the results we desire to achieve. We are doormats when we fail to see the connection between ourselves and what is being brought into our existence, through our own awareness, while blaming others for our perceived problems. When we don’t recognize the power and influence that is always at our fingertips we surrender our potential to others- becoming puppets on a string, always being yanked in different directions.
If you’ve been following my blog posts, then you’re aware I believe each one of us is source energy. We all are the god of the Universe and of our own lives- because source or god is the only thing that exists. Our entire Universe exists inside the awareness, which is the source. There never has been, nor will there ever be any deity or person, external from ourselves, which is assigning the “lessons” of our existence. We are doing every single bit of it. And since we are god, we are free to create in whatever way we choose- be it happily or miserably.
If this is correct, then am I saying we also bring illnesses into our experience? Absolutely. While no one sits around begging for an illness, we do build up resistance to the innate power, which we all have. We continue denying this power by denying our responsibility for our own lives.
Our bodies are always reflections of our attitudes and thoughts. As we continue utilizing similar disruptive (to our well being) thought patterns, for years and years, our bodies begin to physically mirror our feelings. We can also become “accident prone” for this same reason.
Many people don’t become ill, they become injured- but it’s the same thing, it’s only manifesting in a slightly different manner. Have you ever noticed when certain people get sick or injured, they achieve a woe is me mindset? If they allow themselves to reside in this attitude of denying responsibility for their situation, then they typically relapse quite easily, or continue catching new illnesses and finding new ways to hurt themselves.
I’m not trying to come across as being superior with this commentary. I feel I can speak on this subject because I’ve been there. I have definitely had health issues in my life and I absolutely can recognize the correlation between surrendering my responsibility and continuing to slip further and further into the abyss, until scraping rock bottom. The beauty in acknowledging we make ourselves sick and injured, is: if we have the ability to create illness, imagine how much fantastic health and well being we can also create for ourselves.
As we start taking responsibility for our own lives an interesting side effect usually begins to show up- we quit minding the business of others. We allow them to be whoever and whatever they wish- knowing they have no impact upon our lives. They only can have an impact if we choose to deny our power and hastily react to their words or actions.
I realize this takes time and it’s quite natural to explosively react to something that feels as if it has a major bearing upon our lives. This is where one of the greatest principles of responsibility comes into play. I spoke of it, in depth, in Exploring and Creating Our Reality. In being fully responsible we must consciously utilize our emotions to direct our attention towards better, more empowering thoughts, in spite of what’s occurring around us. This is the only way what’s occurring around us will begin to change.
One thing I would like to clarify before moving onto the next section, when I say we accept or acknowledge full responsibility- I’m not referring to any “have to’s” in life. Society tries to make us feel irresponsible if we don’t participate in commonly accepted “have to” activities. There are no have to’s, there are only want to’s. While we may need to do certain things to prevent ourselves from being imprisoned, outside of this factor we should never let anyone dictate to us what is correct or incorrect for our lives.
Many people balk at this statement, believing advice like this encourages extreme, hedonistic behavior. I disagree. When someone begins acknowledging full responsibility for their life, becoming aware of how important their emotional attitude is for creating their reality, they reach a place which is tantamount to a peaceful sanctuary within their existence- hardly the type of images hedonism evokes. This is simply another one of those great myths, which stems from fear of change or any attitude toward living a lifestyle, which deviates from the “norm.”
I have spoken some about the basis of freedom lately, specifically in my post about Illusions. I’m not referring to the political freedoms that are said to be bestowed upon us by the likes of controlling governments, any more than I’m referring to organized religion when I speak about spirituality. I’m talking about true freedom: freedom of spirit, freedom of choice to be who you want to be without fear of being emotionally affected by any comments or judgments that are made by others. These things may seem like they’re pie in the sky, but as we take responsibility for our lives we will begin to understand the concept of real freedom.
While there are many things that prevent us from pursuing our dreams in life, perhaps the most detrimental, and unfortunately most common, is how often we take the opinion of others into consideration. This is where the majority of us begin to disconnect ourselves from being spiritually free. We have always been taught to be fact gatherers, prior to taking any big steps in our lives. I believe this concept, while sounding fine on the surface, actually goes against the grain of our true nature. The only thing that should ever matter, as we pursue the things we want, is how passionate we feel about them.
Everyone else’s opinions need to take a backseat as we feel our way toward our desires and dreams. The statistics don’t matter. Whether someone else has achieved or failed at what you are pursuing is not your concern. Your only concern is how bad you want it. The amazing intensity of the passion burning inside of you (or not) is the only factor you should ever weigh out. Statistics are only the compiled experiences of others- others can’t create for you and you cannot create for them. It’s unfortunate that stats don’t take into account how aware each individual, who pursued your same dream, was of their source power.
I mention the pursuit of our dreams as part of feeling for our freedom because we often settle for less. As we settle, we begin to believe something is unachievable, as we begin to believe something is unachievable, we talk it over with others who state that it’s impossible. These conversations again are what continue chipping away at not only our confidence, but at our ability to use our emotions to feel for our freedom.
It seems our society is built on the premise of disallowing and denying each of us to grasp how inherently free we are- if we allow it to do so. It begins when we are thrown into the school systems- actually it can begin at home, but for the purpose of speaking about society on the whole, I feel the school systems provide our initial encounter.
Some of us may be lucky, finding other students or teachers who have not forgotten their own innate power and freedom. They are the ones who try to remind us, inspiring us (not prodding and motivating us) with their own passion and zest for life. These are the teachers who create a fun, enriching environment to teach the curriculum, each and every day, for their students. But as the years wear on we usually succumb to the life draining rules, regulations, drudgery and judgmental peer pressure, which can accompany such a prolonged experience.
Under these pressures, we feel that certain expectations are being put on us and as we do our best to prevent anyone’s disappoint with us, we can easily throw away our true freedom. Ultimately, we reach the point where we are broken, trying to please a hundred or more individuals at once, instead of tending to the only one who truly matters anyway- our own internal source. Of course this sounds extremely selfish, but if we are not aware of the power of self, then we are not living up to our own potential. Our own potential is all that matters. We have to disregard the idealistic potentials others expect and try to over lay on us, if we want to intentionally reclaim not only our freedom, but our power. Only as our own potential blossoms and flowers can we extend far beyond self, providing true benefit to others.
The third piece of the puzzle, I believe, is developing a strong sense of self and self worth. This section may sound similar to what I already described in feeling for our freedom and acknowledging responsibility, but that’s because all three of these principles are similar and synergistic- as you develop one, the others will often times begin to fall into place.
Self worth consists of understanding that you are deserving and worthy and worthwhile. It’s about loving who you are, no matter where you are or where you want to be. It’s about acknowledging your greatness, while disregarding the irrelevant opinions of anyone else.
Self worth is about understanding there is no ultimate right and wrong- only when we can be free of judging others and their behavior, can we be free of self condemnation. To condemn others is self condemnation. If we are capable of grasping the principle that each one of us is the god source of this Universe, then we must understand each of us is free to create in the manner we choose.
I also understand that as others feel free to share their opinions or judgments with me, they have that right. But I have the right to allow what they say to enter into my world, or not. It may sound harsh to speak of disregarding the opinions of others, but I feel we cannot become overly enamored by their opinions, even if they make us feel good. This can create a dependency, which can backfire on us. If their kind words cease to flow we can start to question our self worth, since we are attaining it from an “outside source.”
The more our emotional states become dependent upon positive comments, the more likely we are to buy into negative comments as well. I joyfully receive all the positive comments, which come into my life. I’m appreciative of them and I accept them, but I do my best to never attach my self worth to them.
These three principles are always expanding and evolving in my own life, but I feel their basic tenants are primarily responsible for helping me reclaim the understanding of my power. I catch glimpses of it flowing through me, every now and again, and I’m working toward the point when it will be my consistent and continuous state of being, as much as possible.
The only reason I still have moments of disallowing, my true potential, is because of patches of resistant thoughts and ideas that are still ingrained within me. Each day I am relearning to love and appreciate myself, for who I am, where I am, as I am- embracing my responsibility, freedom and self worth.
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Related Posts
Self Truths: Part 1
Effortless Passionate Creativity
Exploring and Creating our Reality
Connecting With the Mystical
Realizing Your Purpose
Manifesting Desirable Results Through Balance
Forgiving Our Past: Key to Unlocking a Joyful Present
Q & A: Why do we feel Negative Emotion?
Moving Beyond Fear
Discovering the Truths of Your Existence
