"Perhaps it would be a good idea, fantastic as it sounds, to muffle every telephone, stop every motor and halt all activity for an hour some day to give people a chance to ponder for a few minutes on what it is all about, why they are living and what they really want." ~James Truslow Adams
Empowerment is a vice. It is interesting how it becomes addicting as we become more self-sufficient. To call empowerment "addictive" may seem harsh, but once you have it -- once you gain sovereignty -- it is difficult to imagine life any other way.
So yes, addictive is appropriate in that you must have it and you will do anything to keep it. Understanding what will produce empowerment and what it has to offer the Average Joe is just the thing needed in a time of uncertainty and economic stress.
1. Meaningfulness -- the value or importance attached to a goal or task, further bracing the bridge that leads to inner strength and resilience. Heart, the first element of empowerment.
2. Impact -- the result that is echoed through the significance of worth and work. The implication that what we have to contribute can alter the course that leads to success or failure. Might, element number two.
3. Independence - experiencing the freedom to conduct business in the manner one sees fit. Self-reliance, self-determination, self-rule, autonomy. Mind, element number three.
4. Power -- the inner force that comes to an individual when that worthwhile goal or difficult task has been accomplished. The result? Strength, the final element of empowerment.
Around the world today, we see the impossibility of empowerment. The Middle East chokes on the dust of a turbulent relations. No empowerment -- just petulant grabs for control. Poverty skyrockets, homelessness continues, AIDS still ravages, and lies and abuses of power continue, for now.
When on an airplane, final announcements are made before take-off, a flight attendant holds the oxygen mask out and adjusts the straps while a voice overhead states, "Secure your own mask first, before assisting the person or child next to you." Take care of first things first.
Think about why you are living, why you work, and what you really want out of both. Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength. Empower yourself.