Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
~ Lao Tzu
If the pending elections are proving anything to us, it’s that the quest for power is addictive; it’s very seductive for people who believe they can’t be happy without having “more” power than other people have. This quagmire always ends up in a power “struggle” that seems never to end. Could it be that they are looking for their power in the wrong place? In external forms such as control over other people and possession of more things? Of course, politics is only one arena where power struggles are acted out.
When you think of the word “power,” what image comes to mind? That image is likely different from what your neighbor might have in mind, or the individual driving in the lane next to you on the freeway, or a person on the other side of the planet but they do have a belief about what power is, where it comes from, and what they think they must do to gain more of it. For the one praying for divine intervention, power may be sought from a sky God somewhere in the heavens above. For the environmentalist, power may be something that flows through solar panels from the sun. For a cabinetmaker, power may be what he gets when they connect his radial saw to an electrical wall outlet. Garnering more votes than his/her opponent might bring a feeling of power to a politician. A bodybuilder may think that big muscles equate to more power. For the beauty queen, power may be something she feels when she wins a pageant. The codependent gains a sense of power by controlling the behavior of others. For the addict, a sense of power may come through his substance of choice. For a Wall Street banker, power might be mistakenly determined by who has the most money in the coffers while, for a battlefield general, it may mean having the biggest arsenal.
Perhaps the problem originates with the fact that the quest for power means different things to different people, and therefore, the source of one’s power can appear to have different points of origin.
To determine our personal definition of power, we must first discern where we look for it. This is a query humankind has wrestled with from antiquity and it is worthy of investigation because the answer will shape not only the life that we have come here to live but the world in which we live. The “grounded” individual recognizes that their authentic power cannot be found in any of the aforementioned things. As my friend Gary Zukav says, “Authentic power is the real deal. You can’t inherit it, buy it, or win it. You also can’t lose it. You don’t need to build your body, reputation, wealth, or charisma to get it.”
THE TAKEAWAY: The age-old adage, “As within—so without” seems to be appropriate here. Authentic power arises from within the individual when they feel a connection with the ultimate source of all power: Infinite Intelligence, the Universe—or our oneness with Life itself. Call it what you may, but all authentic power comes from the same infinite source. We can take comfort because no one can ever strip us of that eternal source of power. The other news is fear, in its many forms, causes a sense of separation from that source. Transcending fear is the practice of a lifetime, but we’ll hold that conversation for another day. So, where do we begin? As the great teacher admonished, “Be still and know…” When we align with First Cause—the original source of all good — we’ll never experience a power shortage.
Always remember that how you define power is where you’ll seek it.
Peace, Dennis Merritt Jones, DD
