Using Your Power Self-Determination Our lives are defined by the decisions we make each day. When we choose one option over another, whether we are selecting a restaurant or considering a cross-country move, we shape our lives. The decision-making process can be empowering, allowing us to enjoy the benefits of self-determination. Yet it can also be a source of anxiety because decisions force us to face the possibility of dissatisfaction and inner conflict. As a result, many of us opt to avoid making decisions by allowing others to make them for us. We consequently turn our power over to spouses, relatives, friends, and colleagues, granting them the stewardship of our lives that is ours by right. Though the decisions we must make are often difficult, we grow more self-sufficient and secure each time we trust ourselves enough to choose.
Ultimately, only you can know how the options before you will impact your daily life and your long-term well-being. Within you lies the power to competently weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each selection. Even if you feel incapable of making a decision, your inner wisdom and your intuitive mind will give you sound counsel if you have faith in yourself. Try to come to your own conclusions before seeking the guidance of others, and even then, treat their suggestions as supplementary information rather than votes to be tallied. Before making your choice, release your fear of wrong decisions. Perceived mistakes can lead you down wonderful and unexpected paths that expose you to life-changing insights. If you can let go of the notion that certain choices are utterly right while others are entirely wrong, you will be less tempted to invite others to take the reigns of your destiny.
When your choices are your own, you will be more likely to accept and be satisfied with the outcome of those choices. Your decisions will be a pure reflection of your desires, your creativity, your awareness, and your power. Since you understand that you must live with and take responsibility for your decisions, you will likely exercise great care when coming to conclusions. As you learn to make informed and autonomous choices, you will gain the freedom to consciously direct the flow of your life without interference.
Source: Daily OM
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"Never argue with an idiot... They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience..."
When I received this in my email a bit ago, I read and re-read it. Maybe even read it again. I just loved it, and that illuminating light bulb tinked on over my head. (like a cartoon character).
How many years did we turn our power, that power that determines our drives, our life, our loves, and our self love, over to alcohol? Even after we sober up, how often do we let fear steal our power? Or, how often do we allow what others think, that people pleasing part of us, to be in the drivers seat. Even today, I find myself restraining that power of self, that integral Faith that we need to have in ourselves and ultimately our Higher Power, by turning my reigns over to others rather than taking my own responsibility for my personal power. (this in no way refers to anything but my faith and spiritual power today, and is seperate from Step One of the Twelve Steps. In that area, absolutely, I am powerless over alcohol... but I am not powerless over the thinking that preceeds it.)
As the Om message says, when we begin to make our own choices, based on faith in ourselves and our power of discernment, only then can we truly know freedom and enjoy the flow that is life, be it good times or rough times.
Today, I recognise that I have given far too much power to people who may have agendas that fullfill themselves and their needs. Today, I claim my Faith and my Power for myself. Wren
-- Edited by Wren at 15:58, 2006-10-21
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"Never argue with an idiot... They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience..."
