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E is for ‘Empowerment’

9:38:00 pm


Today’s letter for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge is ‘E’ for my theme ‘A to Z of Effectiveness’. You can read more about my theme here. I’m also participating in the NaBloPoMo for April.

Source
The dictionary defines empowerment as ‘giving power or authority to someone’. When we talk about empowerment of the self, we talk about giving ourselves this power. Power over what exactly? Why, everything!!

Stephen Covey says in 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' that 'our basic nature is to act, and not be acted upon'. He says that this nature enables us to choose a response and empowers us to create our own circumstances. Now if creating our circumstances isn't a superpower, I don't know what is!

I am not a particularly whiny person, but even I have my moments! I get sick of everything and find someone to blame for every single one of my problems. A little later, I come to my senses and realize that I could have done something in all those situations to change the outcome. Then why didn’t I?

Simple – I didn’t give myself the power for it. Well, no one was going to come and give it to me, that’s for sure; after all, what’s that thing they say about power? You don’t give it, you only take it. But as I grow older and talk about these things with others, I realize that there are many people out there who don’t take the responsibility of their lives into their own hands, but continue to whine about it.

There could be a number of reasons we feel so powerless – cultural factors, societal pressures etc. But by listing these reasons, we’re again finding someone to blame, and there goes our power out the window!

I think deep down, the main reason is that we’re scared; especially if we’ve never empowered ourselves before. Like the quote says, you can’t blame anyone else now! But imagine the freedom that comes with such power, to misquote Spiderman’s uncle!!

Are you completely empowered and in charge of your life? Or would you rather have someone else to blame?


P.S. On top of everything I have going, I’ve decided to join April’s NaBloPoMo as well!! Yup, last minute registration; got in just as the gates were closing! The theme is ‘Grow’ and I think it goes well with my AtoZ Challenge theme too!

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12 comments

  1. Good luck with NaBloPoMo~ That's a lot to have on your plate but writers are just that way sometimes.

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    1. I know!! But I have to admit it feels great!

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  2. Great post! Taking control of our own lives is certainly empowering - thank you for the reminder and the inspiration! And good luck with your blogging challenges for the month. :)

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    1. Thank you Laurel!! There is something so liberating in empowering ourselves, I wish more people did it!

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  3. I admit it, I am not so great at empowering myself. I would be even worse if I wasn;'t concerned about setting better examples for my children to not be scared. Great post!

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    1. True, self empowerment isn't really as easy as it sounds, but it's great you see your kids as motivation!

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  4. Well written. It is so important to find meaningful inspiration in life.
    My #atozchallenge posts dedicated to the memory of my late father.

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    1. Thank you Pooja! If only we keep our eyes open, we can find sources of information in our lives everyday!

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  5. Another brave person, doing multiple challenges this month.Enjoy!
    It's so important to take control of our own lives. People who constantly complain about their lot in life aren't likely to improve it. Thanks for these inspiring words!

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    1. Thank you Debbie! I have been quite a complainer, there were always excuses for why things didn't work out. When I started thinking differently, I realized that things didn't work out because I didn't do anything for it!!

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  6. Nice. Yes we need to hold our own crosses rather than look for people to blame it on. Well said. Best of luck for both the challenges.. :) Have a nice day.

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    1. Thank you Lancelot! Well said!! Just accepting and moving on can be such a liberating feeling.

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