“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.” ― Susan Polis Schutz
Everyone has power. Everyone is a warrior, everyone just doesn’t view themselves as one or treat themselves as such. If you have been given life, you have an opportunity to change the world. You have a responsibility to be the best person you can be, for YOU, and that is your power.
Whatever your roles are in life – husband, wife, parent, child, sibling, employee, employer – be the best version of you. Be the best you can be. Make each moment count. Wake up every day with a heart full of joy and gratitude, with an attitude of “let’s do this thing!”
When you’re at work, give it your all. When you’re with friends, be the best friend you can be. If you’re on vacation, live in that moment and enjoy. Whatever it is you are doing at a particular moment, you are doing it for a reason; therefore, you “own” that moment, and that is empowering…always ALWAYS make it worthwhile. When you love, love with all that you are! The list goes on and on.
These are all positive power (warrior) attributes, whether you realize it or not. A warrior is just a person, like you and me, doing the very best they can for themselves and those around them, to be the best possible human they can be, to themselves and to others, to be kind and loving, which, contrary to what some believe, being kind and loving is extremely powerful.
It’s okay to acknowledge our shortcomings, we are human after all and not without faults (and that makes us beautifully complex), but refuse to dwell on the negatives; they only serve to exacerbate a pointless situation. You give power where your thoughts stray and stay, so yes, we always have the power, it is where we live in our heads that fuels the fire, for the betterment of ourselves, or the opposite.
Watch your thoughts. We battle our demons. We fight our fears. And we charge through this battlefield called life. Each day is an internal battle, fighting our personal demons, overcoming our fears, sometimes doing things we’d rather not be doing. Little conquests equal enormous victories. You my dears, are warriors in your own personal right.
“Whatever you are physically…male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy–all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel
“Power isn’t control at all — power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.”
― Beth Revis, Across the Universe
Yes, knowledge is power, but so are wisdom, courage, honesty, kindness, patience, imagination…and love. There is an abundance of power in being a kind and loving person.
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” ― Leo F. Buscaglia
Leo Buscaglia’s writings have remained a favorite of mine. His writing entered my life many years ago when I walked in a used bookstore and his little red book, “Love” caught my eye. I devoured that book. Simple, yet profound. Reading “Love” changed my outlook on love, what it means to truly be a loving person and the magnitude of power in just that, love. After all, “love conquers all” is not a long-lived quote for nothing.
“I believe in the immeasurable power of love; that true love can endure any circumstance and reach across any distance.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience.“There are three qualities that every individual must have to achieve success: a Monk’s patience, a Warrior’s courage, a Child’s imagination.” ― Sharad Vivek Sagar
Love is not only a powerful emotion, but loving, being loved and giving love, empowers you mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Love does not hold captive. Love is wild and free and there is nothing in the world more powerful and liberating than that.
“Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move.” ― Ossie Davis
And this hits home with me! Yes, create, be it through dance or sculpting, or writing or drawing, or any form of art/creating. Here is where you authentically tap into your inner world. Whenever you engage internally, with full force and genuine intent, with the various facets of who you are – and there are multitudes – the more you create, the more you discover about yourself, the more powerful of a human being you become.
When I go deep into myself, through my personal creations, the more I learn and discover and ultimately grow. I am constantly surprising myself with unrealized insight. Creating, for me, is mediation. The more I grow internally, through my craft, the more powerful I become, in a self-nurturing, healthy, positive way. This is art, and this is power. It is through the medium of art (creating) that I – and you – have something to offer the world. I have tapped into internal power and now I am giving back.
“I wanted to punch something.
Wanted to scream.
Wanted to run away.
Instead, I went to my center,
my heart,
where I purged my raging emotions.
I pleaded for answers,
when suddenly a gentle calm
washed over me
Love wrapping limbs around me,
I found an inner peace.
Serenity. All within.”
― Melody Lee, Moon Gypsy
There is peace and power I had never known, and I’ve learned how to hone into that peace, which was there all along, living inside of me. That peace, that power is inside of you, too. When you discover inner calm, self-serenity, and how to arrive there, you will find you have much to offer the universe.
There is tremendous power in realizing you create your own world with your thoughts, so be aware of what you allow into your mental sanctuary. The power is always in you. Polluting your thoughts with doubt, negativity, fears, diminish what you already own, so don’t corrupt your soul with poisonous thoughts – don’t give them power. As soon as they enter, stop them in their tracks.
It takes practice, but you are a fighter, a warrior and you can turn those thoughts around. The more you are aware of this, the more you can combat toxicity that seeks to invade your well-being. It takes patience and practice, but you have the power to counteract and you must, because you are a warrior.
And finally, be in the moment, learn to appreciate the here and now; that in itself is freeing. Our thoughts naturally wander. They go forward, backward and every which way, yet the mind finds it more challenging to just be, to be in the moment, to feel it, breathe it and appreciate it for what it is. So, yes, there absolutely is power in stilling your mind, living fully and only in the moment.
This is an area in which I am weak, but I am learning, I am practicing, and more and more I am arriving at quieting the mind and living right there, right then; this is energizing and indeed liberating, and I thank that little big fighter inside of me for having successfully won, making me realize even more the power that I am capable of, the warrior that lives within.
“The Warrior of the Light is a believer. Because he believes in miracles, miracles begin to happen. Because he is sure that his thoughts can change his life, his life begins to change. Because he is certain that he will find love, love appears.”
― Paulo Coelho, Warrior of the Light
