Getting Empowerment By Admitting We Are Powerless

What does it mean to admit you are “powerless”? I was having a great conversation with someone the other day about this. Admitting you are powerless does not mean that you are admitting you are weak. When we humbly accept that we cannot control people, places or things, and turn it over to God as we understand Him, that is what powerless means. It does not mean that I am a victim or that I cannot do anything, it means that I cannot make others do what I want them to do. I am fully in charge of my choices over my thoughts and action and to some extent over my feelings. For me, admitting I am “powerless”, EMPOWERS me!

I remember I was on vacation one time and I had been fighting with an insurance company over about $800 bucks that they said I owed them. I had done my work in good faith over 3 years prior, and they had retroactively gone back and re-dated insurance coverage. I had been fighting them in a massive paperwork battle for almost a year and I was tired. They had worn me down. I had done everything that I could do to appeal, fight, argue, etc. While on vacation, I received a phone call that they were denying my final appeal.

That moment slowed down, my blood boiled and I had ringing in my ears!!! I was furious! Then I took a deep breath. I remembered that I am powerless over people, places and things and that I had done everything that I could do to prove my case. I made a conscious decision to turn it over and remember that I was powerless over this company. I was empowered not to let this news spoil my vacation by getting mad, angry, talking about it and wasting time over something that I had no control over. I let it go and gave it to God, admitting that I was powerless over the decision of this big behemoth company. I could only do what I could do and at that moment on vacation, there was nothing that I could do about this decision.

I had a great vacation! I did not obsess or waste time thinking about the situation.

When I got home a week later, I had another phone call from the same company stating that they were actually going to approve my appeal (with a bit more paperwork) and not come after me for the money. I was over the moon! I had let it go (powerless) and had enjoyed my vacation (EMPOWERED).

I empowered myself to feel the way that I wanted to feel. I controlled what I could and let the rest go. I am not saying it is simple, as it takes practice to change our old thinking patterns, but I am saying it is possible to CHANGE ourselves, rather than expect the world to change around us.

If you would like more tools and skills to learn how to make concrete changes in your life, give me a call today at my San Diego office to set up your coaching counseling appointment. 619-687-9013