This bit of mindful wisdom may have you scratching your head at first, because clearly, there are external forces and authorities that have the power to make you do things you don’t want to do. For example, your alarm this dark, autumn Monday morning. I think Ralph was on to something different here, though.
The idea is that you and only you are in charge of your internal landscape, and while we can’t control the people and forces that embody the world around us, we are in charge of how we respond to them. You give power to things that you allow to change your mind or mood in a lasting way. The short-term experience is what it is – you can’t stop a thought or a feeling from arising when it does, and ignoring or denying it will only make it worse. But you can choose if you want to take a ride with it and allow it to multiply, or simply notice it, and let it move on.
To bring back another one of my favorite Monday Moments from the writer Alice Walker, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” You are nothing but power, in fact, when it comes to shaping your own experience in the world. Use it wisely, and never give it away to anything that makes you feel like you have less of it as a result.
Photo credit: zhangkaiyv
