Thoughts on True Power

"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power."
-- Lao Tzu

This quote sums up what I'm trying to do. To master myself. That is all that I am capable of changing directly; so I'm leaving others to take care of what is on their own plate, while I take care of what is on mine.

Does this mean that I don't care about or do for others? No. It just means that I step back, and take a good look at what is going on (as best as I can see it).

To do for others what they are not willing to do for themselves, is not compassion, it is enabling.

To allow others to do for you what you are not willing to do for yourself, leads to dependence.

To master oneself is something that will take a lifetime, because just when you think that you have one thing under control, something else will come up that needs work in your life. The good news is, that you are always learning something new about yourself :-)!

Thoughts on True Power

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

"I will permit it to pass over me and through me."

Incontinence jokes notwithstanding, what does this mean?

To feel an emotion doesn't mean that it has to take over your heart and soul. If you experience an event and let your feelings wash over and through you without struggling or denying them, it robs the emotion of its power over you.

Observe yourself as you are experiencing fear - what do you do? Does your heart skip a beat? Do you stutter? (When I am afraid, my stomach drops down the elevator shaft to the basement - and stays there!!!) This cultivated detachment allows you to have the clarity to do what is necessary (to start with, think) to solve the problem.

One of the things that I have worked on in dealing with my fears, is the realization that just because I feel an emotion, doesn't mean that I have to do anything about it at the moment I feel it. Many times, even taking the time to take a deep breath means the difference between a lucid response and a manic one. And, if I take the time to think about what I'm feeling, and what's actually going on, I sometimes discover that there is nothing for me to do at all (whether I *like* that or not, is an entirely different story, lol)!

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.