Advertise- - --------------Back to September Newsletter----- ------Events Directory--- --- ------Articles
 

Powerful or Powerless, Which One Are You?

By Pamela Shelly

        
            As a young child we often learn early how to behave to be accepted and get our needs and wants met.  Instead of learning how to love ourselves, honor and act on our feelings, we were taught how to behave by pleasing our parents to get our perceived needs met.  We then took this conditioned behaviour to school and learned that our academic performance and sitting quietly was the accepted norm.  Instead of nurturing our uniqueness, variety of personalities, skills and abilities it often suppressed these qualities.  What about the ones among us who were bored stiff with some subjects and were thrilled at expressing our creativity in art or drama?  What about the ones who learn best by hands on and not being lectured to for hours on end?  What about the ones that have trouble sitting still and have boundless energy?

            Next was our need to be accepted by our peers and fit it.  Often this meant going along with the strongest, most persuasive of the bunch and not standing up for ourselves and what we believed in.  Then we get into college or university and often go into the area of study that is most accepted, often influenced by our parents and society according to their beliefs.  Often these beliefs of what would signify a ‘successful’ career has been about how much money can we make rather than based on our gifts and what we are passionate about.  Once we have graduated, we have another area of giving our power away by often accepting the first job we are successful at getting rather than checking in with our feelings to know if it is the best fit for us.  Our self-image is usually so low and compromised at this point we are just happy to be employed.

            Love relationships are another huge arena for giving our power away.  How often do we behave completely foreign to our true self for fear of rejection, anger, confrontation, abandonment and the list goes on.  We have often done it with the medical system as well.  We have learned to think of Doctors as Gods and to trust every word that comes out of their mouths.  Don’t get me wrong, I do believe they have a lot of wonderful information and abilities but there are areas they are not trained in.  This is where we need to take back our power and realize they are gifted in certain areas of expertise but not all areas and misdiagnosis does happen.  We have also given our power away to the prescription drug industry.  Rather than always treating symptoms, each of us needs to delve into the core root issues that are creating the symptoms. 

           Thankfully, there are now a myriad of wholistic and alternative practitioners and modalities and written material to assist us.  What transpires when we take any medication or worse yet willingly drug our precious children, is that it disconnects us from our intuitive feelings.  There are a host of side effects with each pill we take.  It is astounding to me how many in our society are on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs.  Our body and souls are crying out to tell us that something in our lives is out of balance and our answer is too often to go to the Doctor and take a pill to numb our pain or feelings rather than make life changes to improve our situation.  Of course it isn’t always pills to numb our pain on a physical, emotional and spiritual level but alcohol, drugs, gambling, escaping into mindless TV shows, video games etc., all do the same thing.

           The outcome of all the disempowerment and conditioning we have gone through is that very few of us know who we truly are.  We wrap our identity up in our careers, our family or some area we feel we excel in.  This is not who we truly are.   We end up feeling more and more miserable inside and our outer world reflects this.  Many of us end up feeling burned out, numb, angry and  feeling like defeated victims.

            There is HOPE!  Once we wake up and choose to take responsibility for what we have ultimately created, then we can begin to make different choices.  We can reclaim our power, honor our feelings, set firm boundaries, forgive ourselves and others and create the life of our dreams.  This is where it begins as we start to delve into discovering who we are and what kind of life we want to create.  What brings us joy and passion?  Who and what do we consciously choose to give our time, energy and power to?  When we can risk being rejected, not approved of, and even unacceptable to some people, then we are well on our way to being in our Power. 

            Where do you fit?  Are you fully in your Power?

           
Pamela Shelly is a Transformational Teacher of over 10 years and offers an Advanced Tools for Self-Mastery workshop and a Business Course for Wholistic Practitioners.  Her passion is to assist you in discovering your unique gifts and abilities, move through your blocks and fulfill your Divine Life Purpose.  www.Pamelashelly.com

Back to September Newsletter
Back to Main Article page
See the latest workshops and events
Home