Stepping Into Your Power

Posted by Ken on April 17, 2014 in Expect synchronicity, Get Off the Sidelines, Ken's Blogs

• Tweet

• Tweet

Over the past few days I’ve been inundated with the word “power” and messages to “accept your power”. Call it synchronicity or call it whatever you like, I am taking notice. I don’t see this “power” as the negative struggle for power, or a need for power, or something to hold over others. Rather, I see this as the “power within”, something we all have, and something that we seem to shy away from.

I have often been both intrigued and inspired by this quote from Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 

 Many of us wear masks and carry shields so people can’t see our power. We don’t want people to think we’re weird when we share our greatest gifts, our big audacious dreams, and our “crazy” ideas. We don’t want people to think we’re egotistical so we don’t stand in our own awesomeness. We hide. We don’t want to stand out so we focus on fitting in.

What a loss!!!!

We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time. We were born to stand out. I believe we are all here for a reason, and here to live life to its fullest. We all have a beautiful power, and it’s a far cry from being egotistical for us to simply accept and stand in that power. Standing in it does not mean lauding it over others, but rather lets others know that we have accepted our own power and encourages others to do the same.

I often catch myself shrinking from what I call “my awesomeness”. I encourage everyone I speak to that they have their own awesomeness, to believe it, to accept it, to live it. But when someone says something like that to me, I tend to minimize it — “ah, it’s nothing”. Would it have been wrong to simply graciously accept it and say “thank you”? You know what, it’s not nothing. It is something. And it is awesome.

Another thing we often do is “give away our power”. In my case, I am often guilty of placing my heroes, she-roes and mentors on a pedestal. They’ve inspired me, they’ve encouraged me, they’ve made a difference in my life, and then I step back in a form of awe and “give away my power”. I’ve gotten into a habit of reaching out to many of these people and the message I’ve received as I’ve gotten to know them has virtually always been along the lines of “thank you for reaching out, please don’t put me on a pedestal, you have everything that I have, it was scary at first, you are making a difference, and just keep going”. I often catch myself thinking “if only it were that easy”. But what if it is that easy? What if we just shared every one of our beliefs, we accepted our “crazy” thoughts, we decided that we were “good enough” and we gave everything we have to offer.

I have another favorite phrase — “If not you, who?” If you don’t use your talents and gifts, then who is going to use them? Not only will you not benefit, but neither will anyone else. In any given moment, you have an opportunity to make a difference, for yourself, for someone else, and beyond.

It’s not about whether we become famous or wealthy, it’s not about whether we’re given the recognition of changing the world, it’s not about any of that. Those are all side effects that may or may not happen. I believe it’s simply about living life to the fullest, giving it all we’ve got, and being happy with our efforts.

That, to me, is “stepping into your power”.

Be forewarned that there may be side effects. Stepping into your power may result in more happiness and laughter, better relationships, improved work environment, healing from various health conditions, healing the health care system, changing the world, etc, etc, etc.

“Our greatest fear …..” Can you step away from that fear? Can you step into your power? If not you, who? If not now, when?

Espavo, Ken

P.S. “Espavo” is a … word that means “thank you for taking your power”.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Namaste, Ken

Written by Ken

Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.

Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.

“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X