This ongoing Recession not only cleaned out our wallets and our savings - for many of us it also decreased our personal power.
Feeling powerful and in control of your life is important for the good health of your mind, body, and spirit. But when your house is at risk for foreclosure, your work is at risk for being down-sized, and you find it hard to pay your bills and buy groceries - your feelings about the power you possess to control your life shifts dramatically - downward.
Unfortunately, one of the quick fixes to solving your woes is money. I hate money. I think it brings out the worst in people (and sometimes the best, but that is infrequent). But money may stave off the wolf at the door, or the mortgage police, or even the robotic debt collectors who do not have any remorse about hounding you over late credit-card or medical bill payments. One of the ironies of The Recession and the over-zealous debt collectors is that they increase their personal power as they decrease yours. This is sick, but it is so.
If you’ve run out of items to pawn, sell on Craigslist or borrow from friends and relatives (usually not a good idea, except out of desperation), then it’s time to do what you can (and you can do a lot) to increase your personal power while waiting for the winds of fortune to change for the better, as they always do.
Here are 4 recommendations for increasing your personal power now.
1. Set realistic goals for yourself that will help lead you toward financial freedom. This may include taking a job (or jobs) you don’t necessarily like, sending out a number of resumes daily; applying to as many jobs as you can; pounding the pavement (if need be) to find "Help Wanted" signs located at businesses near you. These signs appear most frequently on new businesses opening (and there are more than you think), or businesses that are surviving these hard times (like dry cleaners). If you work on your goals every day, and make some progress - a call back, an interview, a personal communication - you have taken the very first step towards regaining some power in your life. This is helped by the fact that while you are busy working on a strategy for earning money, you have taken your mind off your problems (at least for a while). Proactive work, on your own behalf, is the key element here.
2. Network. I realize this has been said so many times, but there is more to networking than joining social groups on the internet. Person-to-person, face-to-face networking is an important, empowering tool for you. Not only can you meet people like yourself, with your interests, but often joining a group, organizations or even volunteering can lead to employment. You do not need to pay for this personal networking. Check out any free groups meeting at your library - that’s a good place to begin, especially if you are writing, learning to write, or starting a business. Use the internet to locate groups, in your area, that might be helpful in your quest to improve your earnings. The Chamber of Commerce, the Newcomers Club, the Optimists, and groups like these, may put you on a new path. If you have time on your hands, use some of it to volunteer for an organization that interests and motivates you - perhaps an environmental group that cleans the beaches or the wetlands; perhaps a political group working on behalf of some action, candidate or movement. You can meet many people who can often direct you toward a job, an idea, or even a goal you might not have thought of - at the same time you are volunteering to make some thing better. I volunteer for an animal shelter group, and I am surrounded by people who love animals and want to provide for them. I am always empowered when I am volunteering - not only by the noble cause, but also by being around people who feel like I do.
3. Discard or avoid people in your life who rob you of your feelings of personal power. Unfortunately, these people are often close friends or family members, who may belittle more than uplift you. If these are family members, they may be acting out of habit, pushing the same buttons they have always pushed, hoping for a reaction that increases their feelings of power. If they are "friends," they may diminish you in order to make themselves feel better. But no true friend would ever do this. If you feel bad or your feelings get hurt by "friends" who brag about their successes or diminish yours, it is time to move away from them. We want people in our life who are going to make us feel better about ourselves - remind us of the good days in the past, and forecast the good days in the future. If you are working for or with some one who diminishes you, you may have to build an invisible wall around yourself for protection against negative energy. You can do this; it works well, but takes practice.
4. Spend time on activities that delight and refresh you. This could be cooking, painting, reading, listening to or playing music, or perhaps praying and attending religious services - just choose an activity or activities that put you into an uplifting and harmonic flow. All too often, when we are feeling down and without power, we neglect the very activities that will help bring us up and give us personal power. These activities, like those above, cost nothing in terms of money, but they accrue benefits in terms of wise investment of your time. Sometimes empowering yourself just takes some re-ordering and re-organizing of your priorities. One very important priority is nurturing the spirit side of your life through creativity or spiritual practices.
One of the great dis-eases of this time is not only complications from the flu, but the sad feelings caused by the dramatic shift in lifestyle forced upon millions of hardworking people by This Recession. Sadness and feelings of weakness can lead to illness, including depression, and/or physical ills. When we are feeling let down by life, we must turn to ourselves as quarterback, ringmaster, and conductor for empowerment and guidance. Feeling empowered is one of the best ways to get a new handle on life.
