Authentic Power or Brute Force?
So here we are on the brink of a new decade, and looking back the last year has been pretty challenging to say the least. The conflict and division in society and in politics has come into sharper and sharper relief. What should have been civilised debate, in civilised society, has instead become more and more abusive, more personal and frankly vicious. But why is this?
Power – it’s a word we use so much in so many contexts, but what does it really mean? My definition of power is ‘the ability to create change’. If you have power you feel safe and can create the changes you need in your life. If you don’t have power, you go into stress and anxiety because your brain doesn’t feel safe. We need power to survive, function and thrive.
Here is our big problem. Power can come from two angles, one creates and the other destroys.
No matter who you are, and what context you are using your power (or feeling the lack of it) power can be either flowing and authentic, or it can be egotistical and blocked. What’s the distinction? Well, what I call blocked power becomes simple force based on self-interest. It’s actually a misnomer to call it power. Force is not power. Force crushes other people, it becomes abusive, violent, violating and is totally self-centred. Whenever the bullies crush the smaller person, whenever the trolls attack someone doing their best to help others, whenever the abuser violates another, this is never true power. This is simply force. A society, a world or a relationship based on force is doomed to do nothing but destroy.
What about authentic power though? Well, this is intrinsically different simply because it has a foundation of love. I don’t mean this in a fluffy, ‘love and light’ sort of way, but a far more practical way. Power based on love genuinely does consider the needs and feelings of others. It considers responsibility. It puts others ahead of self interest and because it has that basis of the heart, what it creates is far more long-lasting and far more profound.
It is our life experiences, when we were on the receiving end of force, that cause us to shut down our true power and submit to the stronger. These experiences are the ones that define our response to life and which cause so many problems for so many of us. We end up frozen, shut down, and trying to survive with no power foundation to support us. This is the root of our stress, anxiety, holding back, lack of confidence in our personal lives and careers. On the bigger scale this is why there is so much conflict, division, violence and aggression in society and sadly in so many political situations. Those who have been trying to act from a basis of authentic power haven’t got the foundation to create the positive change they want. We need to pull back our power and create that energetic foundation. This is way more than beliefs, this is far more than legal rights, it’s an energetic process. A shifting in the deep energetic status quo of our world.
It is only by pulling back our power that can we stand in strength and navigate these situations without being further crushed. It’s not easy, but this is what we need to do.
As we move into the next decade, let’s take forward this understanding. Pushing against aggression when we don’t have our power back does not help anything, and only creates more wounds and ultimately weakens us more. When we instead understand what is happening energetically can we begin to create an authentic power foundation, something which gives us true strength and enables us to hold our power and create the civilised world we want.
So let’s create and hold that intention as we move into 2020. Let’s make this the decade where the prevailing power is authentic and love-based, and mere force is consigned to the past where it belongs.
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