Sweet Spot Within

 

 

"The most common way people

give up their power

is by thinking

they don't have any."

 

Alice Walker

THE COLOR PURPLE

 

 

Our culture has secured specific images in our heads for definitions of power.  While growing up, as as a little girl, I saw men with bulging muscles working at construction sites;  any person wearing a uniform of any kind insinuated strength; and  ministers and doctors always received respect.  All powerful people and all male.  Even though this is not necessarily true today, it was then.  A woman was a nurse assisting a doctor, the little woman at home in her dress building her husband's comfort castle,  or the poor scrub woman scrubbing floors in the manly business complex. 

 

In early years, my examples  for power belonged to male dominance.  Never did I consider power to be anything but physical.  Over the years, I began to see women playing the previously reserved roles for men, except they were not necessarily reflecting  a differing definition.

 

It would not be for more years to pass before I understood there was much more to being powerful other than masculine force.  I began to see the power of reasoning with the mind.  The negative of course was manipulation, but the field of power was growing more accessible. 

 

Fortunately, I grew to recognize personal power which supports self-esteem and the sense of worthiness.  These thoughts were firmly in place by the time I had my children.  My three sons were very physical, but their sensitive sides were nurtured and they developed a balance.  My daughter, no priss here, was empowered by healthy male competition from day one sensing her ability to be equal.

 

In my career, every day I assisted women who deemed themselves powerless.  Granted, they did not have great options, but there were choices.  These women never experienced a sense of power except in sexual scenarios.  If they did allow an urge for strength to surface, they merely got beaten down.

 

Personal power, in my opinion, is one of life's major tools.  A person, male or female truly needs a sense of worth.  In order to navigate the challenges before us, we must be equipped with positive evaluations.  We are led to discover the sweet spot within each of us, to tap into who we truly are which activates true power.