Got Empowerment?

“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.” 
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

What does it mean to be empowered in your life? If you’re interested in spiritual development and personal growth, if you’ve read some books, or talked with spiritually-minded others, you’ve most likely heard that word bandied about quite a bit. But what does it actually look like in daily life?
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12 ways to recognize empowerment in yourself:

• You have the courage to take emotional risks, reaching out to others and being willing to get messy.
• You allow yourself to be imperfect and colorful.
• You allow yourself to stand out when you feel like it rather than keeping your head down and playing it safe.
• You accept yourself, loving yourself, perfect or not.
• You are open to the daily miracles, joy and love that surrounds you.
• You jump right into your life with complete trust that Source is with you holding you up.
• You lovingly take care of what is before you, willingly spending your time and energy.
• You give whatever you do your best effort, investing everything you’ve got, and then letting go, leaving all outcomes up to Source.
• You leave other people’s opinions up to them and Source, knowing it’s none of your business.
• You express your God-Self in everything you are, think and do.
• You live today fully by being fully present, right here, right now.

These are guidelines. Empowerment means different things to different people. You will express empowerment in your own way in your life. 

The next question to ask is what does empowerment feel like on the inside?

To me, empowerment feels like a warm sun glowing within my solar plexus and heart. I feel expansive, grounded and strong, standing tall. Empowerment feels like freedom, freedom from fear. I feel joyful, connected and guided within each present moment.
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Most of us express empowerment in some situations, some of the time. Some of us express empowerment more than others. Some of us don’t express it at all.

Wherever you are with it, accept yourself! That’s a big part of being empowered, right? Accepting yourself wherever you are.  ​

Photo by Fuu J on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

​I’d love to say that I always feel empowered. But I’m learning to accept wherever I am, go within, reground and reconnect. You can too.

Here is a simple and effective visualization you can use.

Sit comfortably, feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes and slowly take deep breaths. Feel yourself relaxing and sinking deeper into your chair. Allow whatever is on your mind to drift away and focus on breathing deeply.

Now focus your attention on your heart area. See a column of light stretching upward out through the top of your head and connecting with your Soul Star chakra, located about 18” above the crown of your head.

See white light energy from your Soul Star pouring down through this column of light and entering through the crown of your head. See and feel this energy moving down into your heart and enfolding your heart in sparkling, white energy.

Now send energy from your heart down through your torso, through your legs, through your feet and deep into the center of Mother Earth. See the energy flowing right to her core and anchoring deep within her.

Pull the energy up from Mother Earth, visualizing it as a beautiful, living green if that feels right to you. Pull the energy back up through your feet, legs and torso and anchor it in your heart.
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Now you are connected above and below, aligned and grounded.