In this last post in the empowerment series, I think it is suitable to bring it all together. What does it mean for us to face our Goliaths with courage, to respond with compassion, to see the beauty in brokenness, to let go of control, to be driven by love and passion, to master that empowered relationship dance, and to live drama-free? Yes, it is to be empowered, but it is also part what makes us the best version of ourselves. All these traits of empowerment are parts of a multi-faceted diamond that, combined, constitute the empowered individual who then becomes the very best version of him or herself.
Michelangelo once said: “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”
Reaching our full potential is just like this. We have it all within us. We simply need to focus on that full potential and chip away around it, like a sculptor with a chisel and a hammer, slowly freeing our empowered self from the debris and the confines of anxiety, superficiality, and pointless drama. Where this analogy reaches its limit is that once a statue is uncovered, it remains there for all to see. The best version of ourselves, however, will inevitably begin to disappear beneath accumulating debris if we stop working on living an empowered life. It requires us to strive for it daily, and humbly accept that there will be ups and downs on the daily empowerment meter.
So what’s it all for? What’s the purpose of empowerment? To feel good? To impress others? By no means! I will refer back to my quote from the first post in this series: ‘No man is an island’ (John Donne, 1572-1631). We are meant to live in a society. We need our fellow man to be able to live up to our full potential. We need them to help us meet our needs where we are unable to ourselves, just as much as they need us to help them meet theirs. Who we are and what we do has a ripple effect on everyone around us.
We are like a drop of water that falls in the middle of a pond, becoming an epicenter from which ripples emanate. Each ripple is a result of the choices we make, the words we speak, the actions we perform, be they empowering or disempowering. Being the best version of ourselves will make us an epicenter of empowerment. People around us will become more empowered, and they in turn will empower others through their empowering choices.
It is not uncommon to feel powerless to change the world. After all, what can a single person do? A lot, actually. The grand and impressive changes take a long time to happen, some of which can take decades or centuries. On a day-to-day basis, we can cause ripple effects of change in the world by being the best version of ourselves, that epicenter of empowerment, sending out waves that will slowly inspire people to live a more empowered lifestyle.
We could keep looking at what empowerment is and its promises, but the argument’s already been made. We now have a choice before us that needs to be made today. What can I do today to confront my Goliaths courageously? What change can I make today to help me further in my pursuit of my life goals, even if it is difficult? What can I do now that will help me master that intricate relationship dance, be it with friends or my relationship with my partner? We have more opportunities than we can count, every day, to make empowering choices. But start small.
As author and speaker Mathew Kelly once wrote (I’m paraphrasing as I don’t remember exactly where I read that and therefore can’t quote it), it is better to take small steps and succeed in making the changes we need to make, than to take ones that are too big and stumble. Stumbling is part of our nature. We are fallible. Still, stumbling is discouraging, and we are more likely to persevere when we see success, however small. The important thing here is to not settle for anything that keeps us short of the best version of ourselves. Take small steps if you must, but keep moving forward. Like in the story of the turtle and the hare, just because we move slowly doesn’t mean we can’t finish the race. We tend to resist change in general, but we resist small changes less.
If you feel you need to be more active, start taking short walks every day. This one person keeps getting you on the defensive, choose to not respond or react today, but merely to observe. Your relationship with your partner has been fraught with tension lately, start with asking for a hug or simply listen attentively to what they have to say. Start small. It will take many small steps to conquer that mountain we call our empowered self, but we can conquer it.
*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA