Are you feeling weak and wasted? Read on and find your voice, your strength, your inner power
If you're constantly being discouraged by somebody from doing your thing, know that there's also an underlying message there being beeped by the universe whispering, "Empower yourself, empower yourself." After all, if the door is jammed shut, you do need to exert some strength to push it open. The very first truth to realise is:
You are not powerless: It's your ego that tells you so. And the ego is fallible, a liar, sometimes. The truth only comes from your higher self. And it's the higher self which has enshrined this shining truth in the scriptures—your spirit can neither be wounded by arrows (of discouragement), burnt by fire (of another's wrath), whetted by water (of emotional blackmail) nor dried by the wind (of a dominating know-all.)
The egoistic route is disempowerment and disenchantment to depression. It weakens the immune system and delays recovery. As I write, a friend's fractured bone is taking forever to heal precisely because she has always felt powerless. You must take control of your emotions, regulate them like you regulate the water-flow from a tap. When you feel the slightest dejection or your breath quickening, become instantly aware of it. The more alert you are to your emotional responses, the less upset you get. Awareness is key, to understanding that you need not step over the emotional precipice. That you are stable, safe, and sound where you are.
Be pro-active about your health: Powerlessness feeds on procrastination and inertia, empowerment emerges from acting 'now'. Rise now, take a brisk walk, break into a trot, run to exhilaration. What's coursing through you is your physical power. Eat healthy food from today. Pick up fruits and low-fat milk for lunch. Saying 'no' to non-healthy food empowers. Been putting off doing a task since forever? Now is the buzzword. Do it.
Finish it. Tower over life. Sure, this high resolve doesn't last. But remember, you have the power to beat procrastination, to break inertia. Keep beating, keep breaking, keep doing. Stay alive!
Say 'no' to needless demands to say 'yes' to further empower yourself: Needless demands are things whose time has come — like the withered tree branches on which the bird sat. Until a whirlwind smashes them, forcing the bird to fly and discover a forest full of fruit-laden trees. This happened to my friend — she couldn't say 'no', until her whirlwind — the fractured leg made her sit up take stock of her life. Don't wait for a whirlwind.
Institute a power-hour: Powerlessness makes you give up on activities you enjoy. Pick them up again, never mind what those discouraging ones around you say. It turns your life around, it turns the clock back and halts the ageing process. Meet people you vibe with, who encourage you to take on projects that make you feel competent, useful, complete, joyous. One beautiful hobby worth cultivating is to sing. Aloud. When you raise your voice and pitch, your brain-cells stir, your heart-cells strum. Go for the high notes.
Sing from power, sing from joy, sing to express that which cannot be said. Hypothyroid is caused by a sense of powerlessness, the inability to express oneself. Let the words, feelings rise in your throat and fly from your tongue in song. And let great, golden gladness and gratitude pour into your being. This is beyond empowerment — this is enlightenment.
Bharat & Shalan Savur
(The contributors are authors of the book, Fitness For Life.)
If you're constantly being discouraged by somebody from doing your thing, know that there's also an underlying message there being beeped by the universe whispering, "Empower yourself, empower yourself." After all, if the door is jammed shut, you do need to exert some strength to push it open. The very first truth to realise is:
You are not powerless: It's your ego that tells you so. And the ego is fallible, a liar, sometimes. The truth only comes from your higher self. And it's the higher self which has enshrined this shining truth in the scriptures—your spirit can neither be wounded by arrows (of discouragement), burnt by fire (of another's wrath), whetted by water (of emotional blackmail) nor dried by the wind (of a dominating know-all.)
The egoistic route is disempowerment and disenchantment to depression. It weakens the immune system and delays recovery. As I write, a friend's fractured bone is taking forever to heal precisely because she has always felt powerless. You must take control of your emotions, regulate them like you regulate the water-flow from a tap. When you feel the slightest dejection or your breath quickening, become instantly aware of it. The more alert you are to your emotional responses, the less upset you get. Awareness is key, to understanding that you need not step over the emotional precipice. That you are stable, safe, and sound where you are.
Be pro-active about your health: Powerlessness feeds on procrastination and inertia, empowerment emerges from acting 'now'. Rise now, take a brisk walk, break into a trot, run to exhilaration. What's coursing through you is your physical power. Eat healthy food from today. Pick up fruits and low-fat milk for lunch. Saying 'no' to non-healthy food empowers. Been putting off doing a task since forever? Now is the buzzword. Do it.
Finish it. Tower over life. Sure, this high resolve doesn't last. But remember, you have the power to beat procrastination, to break inertia. Keep beating, keep breaking, keep doing. Stay alive!
Say 'no' to needless demands to say 'yes' to further empower yourself: Needless demands are things whose time has come — like the withered tree branches on which the bird sat. Until a whirlwind smashes them, forcing the bird to fly and discover a forest full of fruit-laden trees. This happened to my friend — she couldn't say 'no', until her whirlwind — the fractured leg made her sit up take stock of her life. Don't wait for a whirlwind.
Institute a power-hour: Powerlessness makes you give up on activities you enjoy. Pick them up again, never mind what those discouraging ones around you say. It turns your life around, it turns the clock back and halts the ageing process. Meet people you vibe with, who encourage you to take on projects that make you feel competent, useful, complete, joyous. One beautiful hobby worth cultivating is to sing. Aloud. When you raise your voice and pitch, your brain-cells stir, your heart-cells strum. Go for the high notes.
Sing from power, sing from joy, sing to express that which cannot be said. Hypothyroid is caused by a sense of powerlessness, the inability to express oneself. Let the words, feelings rise in your throat and fly from your tongue in song. And let great, golden gladness and gratitude pour into your being. This is beyond empowerment — this is enlightenment.
Bharat & Shalan Savur
(The contributors are authors of the book, Fitness For Life.)