#265 – What does Personal Power feel like?

Positional Power is something you wear, like a high-top hat, or a red silk-and-gold mantle. It changes you in the eyes of others and hence, changes how others treat you.

Personal Power comes from inside – it's your True Self's nature. It keeps you from changing in front of others, from twisting into a pretzel to fit what others expect you to be/do/say.

The first time I flew business, in October of 2017, I felt like I didn't belong. It took me days to decide what to wear for the five-hour flight. I had my hair and nails done.

By October of 2018, something had changed. Or rather, I'd stopped trying to change into something I wasn't – at least when it came to flying business.

As I sat in the airline lounge waiting to board, I noticed how little preoccupied I was with other people. I took out my laptop and started to write what I was noticing. I titled the piece, "Power."

If before I looked down or directly into someone's eyes when our paths crossed, now I was okay just looking ahead – four years walking in New York might have helped.

I was no longer trying to be invisible (by looking down) or seeking someone's benevolence (by making eye contact). I was no longer apologizing for my looks or my accent or my opinions. No longer profusely over-thanking the bellboy for holding the door at the five-star hotel.

My desire to be nice and please others was in fact hid fear of being found out and kicked out.

At last, I was standing up to my Ego and the Ghost of Need to Prove and telling them, "I've got this."

This is what Power feels like.

How did you start relating with the world once you stopped muffling down your Power?

Love,

Carolina