YOU have Power. Use it for the Greater Good!
Paul White's nationally distributed syndicated column, “YOU have Power. Use it for the Greater Good!” is published in 22 publications across seven states. This includes the following newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News (MI), SFGate (CA), Seattle PI (WA), Connecticut Post (CT), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Huron Daily Tribune (MI), The Telegraph (IL), and more. In this week's article, Paul encourages you to think about all the different ways YOU can utilize power based on who you are as an individual and what your life represents.
A friend of mine, someone I greatly admire, held an open meeting that featured six panelists (and later the audience) having a conversation relating to the “Greater Good” and “Big Picture” thought processes for our communities. While some may have different ways of defining how to have the greatest impact on the Greater Good and Big Picture, everyone present agreed they were critically important components in moving our society in a positive direction. I really appreciated when at the beginning of the discussion, one of the panelists mentioned the “Starfish story” which proves that making a difference in just one person’s life counts. I utilize the Starfish story in the preface of my book to set the tone for the reader proving that every positive effort has value.
This got me thinking about power. The word “power” is typically thought of negatively because of all the examples of abuse of power brought to us by the media and our own personal experiences. Our life experience has trained us to constantly be on the lookout for people abusing power. We’re on the lookout to protect ourselves and the people we care most about. I find it amazing how simple it has become to create our own high level of anxiety regarding the abuse of power, with little effort being devoted to recognizing the symptoms that lead to it and finding a way to eliminate the anxiety altogether. It’s worth doing a perspective check to get on the plus side of the power scale. Keep reading.
When we think of power being abused, politicians and the government might first come to mind, but every law they’ve put in place throughout our country’s history was created for the benefit of the Greater Good and to improve the Big Picture. Many people would suggest that companies and corporations abuse the power they have over us. Airlines, Social media companies, and Insurance companies might come to some people’s mind, but they’re all part of the free enterprise system where we actually have the ability to choose whether we want to engage with them or not. While a bank may have the power to force us to maintain home insurance on our home so their investment (our mortgage) is protected, we get to choose which company we want to utilize for it and how much our deductible is. That could be considered shared power.
I’m really trying to offer you a different perspective today. One that indicates that YOU have power that’s gone unrecognized, is underutilized, or power you have yet to discover as available to yourself. You have the power to advocate for yourself and others. This could become critically important when health concerns arise. You have the power to encourage others. Encouragement has allowed people to achieve things they possibly thought they couldn’t. Now that’s powerful. You have the power to vote (and every vote counts). You have the power to treat others with kindness, which has proven to be an effective treatment for anxiety. You have the power to volunteer which offer the greatest bang for your buck regarding experiencing consistent joy and happiness.
You have the power to say NO based on your perspective of right and wrong. This becomes especially important when a peer group is attempting to push you into a decision you don’t want to make. Reminds me of the saying “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” YOUR power to say NO gives you the greatest amount of control over someone attempting exert power over you that’s unwanted and undesirable.
You also have the power to say YES. Yes, to being the very best version of yourself. Yes, to believing in yourself, who you are, and what your life represents. Yes, to allowing your daily actions to reflect constant improvement in your character. Yes, to learning something new about other people, other religions, other cultures, and about yourself. Yes, to showing compassion to anyone that doesn’t have life as good as you do. Yes, to having the foundation that you build your life on solidly built on the benefits of helping others. When you think about it, the opportunities that involve our ability to say YES to power that we can personally utilize is never-ending. When we say yes to personally using power in a positive way, even if it only benefits one other person (Starfish story), that decision benefits the greater good and the big picture no matter how it gets defined.
While I don’t have any power over you, I am attempting to help you recognize the immense amount of power you have over yourself and your slice of this world we all live in. Think about what I’ve just presented in this article. Think about all the different ways YOU can utilize power based on who you are as an individual and what your life represents. Take a moment and visualize how you can use the power of kindness, encouragement, compassion, and caring before this day ends. Practice this newfound power on someone you love. It counts. It counts as your personal contribution to the greater good and the big picture. Afterwards, when you experience the joy that the use of your YES POWER provides, make a pledge to do it again tomorrow, and the day after, and again until it becomes just a natural part of your character and personality. That’s how you can personally change the world. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!
Paul White is a guest columnist and author. Purchase his life-changing book “The Answer Discovery – How to Change the World by Helping Others…and Ourselves” at http://bit.ly/PaulWhiteAmazon. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.