Have you ever done something for someone in order to feel included, valued or appreciated, even though it went against what you believed or wanted to do? Have you ever let a situation out of your control cause you to feel intense emotion or anger?
We may not realize it, but in that moment you are giving away your power. And when you give away your power you are distancing from yourself. When we distance from ourselves, we are creating a distrust within us. Put simply, your mind is saying “You aren’t listening to your intuition, so that must mean you no longer trust your intuition.” Once you stop trusting your intuition, that’s when you start to feel lost, alone and even angry with yourself.
But how can we recognize when we’re giving away our power? It’s not always spelled out for us and giving away our power can look differently for so many situations.
The best way to tell if you’re giving away your power is if you find yourself second guessing whether you actually want to do something or not. Are you doing something just to satisfy someone else, or you feel like you have to for the people around you? Another great way is if you find yourself intensely reacting to something that you don’t have control over. A simple example is getting cut off in traffic and becoming very angry. The person in the other car may never know how angry you are, and you gave away some of your power by reacting to something that has no effect on them.
Obviously we cannot always control these things, we are human after all. And sometimes the situations we are in are inevitable and it’s okay to feel your emotions. But if you become aware of how you’re reacting in situations and start listening to your intuition again, you might find yourself making better decisions and becoming happier with yourself.
Power isn’t necessarily only something that your ego loves, but it’s important for our survival. It’s how we distinguish if we’re in toxic and manipulative relationships. It gives us the autonomy of our own lives. Power is something we need to validate our emotions and stand up for ourselves in situations that are not serving our higher good.
Listed below are some great ways to take back your power today:
- Forgive yourself: Practice forgiveness when you find yourself giving away your power. Remember that you’re human and we’re here to learn and grow.
- Remove the victim narrative: If you are constantly thinking that life is happening to you and not for you, you will become stuck in the same patterns.
- Be okay with being different: When you stand up for yourself or express yourself the way you want to, independent of others’ thoughts, you might appear different and that is okay.
- Find self worth without validation from others: If you’re constantly looking around you for validation in order to feel worthy, you are making your worth external and apart from you. If you can sit alone and be okay with yourself, your emotions and your thoughts, you have taken a huge step in taking back your power.
- Accept how you feel: Whatever you’re feeling in that moment, accept the emotions and recognize that those feelings won’t last forever.
- Focus on the positive: This will help raise your vibration and create an atmosphere of gratitude.
- Create boundaries: Boundaries let people know what they can and cannot do with or to you. This may be the biggest step in taking back your power and creating a life filled with healthy relationships.
- Know your values: And stick to them!