empower
[em-pou-er]
1.
to give power or authority to; authorize, especially by legal or official means:
I empowered my agent to make the deal for me. The local ordinance empowers the board of health to close unsanitary restaurants.
2.
to enable or permit:
To help you learn to rewire your brain and make a conscious effort to focus on the good in your life, sit down and write out a list of all the good things you have done. Call it a brag sheet, a boast sheet, call it whatever you want. Whatever you call it, just write it out and place it somewhere you can see it each and everyday. I, for one, like to use colored index cards. They hang on my wall next to my work station and they provide me with a constant reminder of where I am going, what I have done, and who I really am. Refer to this accomplishment sheet daily and allow yourself to feel motivated by what you have accomplished in your life. Avoid thinking of the things you have not done or the opportunities you may have passed up, but rater rejoice in what is good. Seeing this and adding to it will give you an instant internal power boost!
~Mellie
Wealth empowered him to live a comfortable life.
I feel like the word "empowered" is not only overused when describing oneself, but that the very "true" meaning of the word has been lost as well. To me, empowered means: feeling confident, proud, passionate; being inspired and feeling full of life. It's the feeling you have when you know YOU are in the driver's seat of your life, and YOU are doing what is needed to succeed in your life.
Empowered does not mean we have control over others. In fact, the truly powerful women are those who are self-empowered.
Empowered does not mean we have control over others. In fact, the truly powerful women are those who are self-empowered.
Sadly, most of us do not feel this way in our daily lives and rarely feel this way at all. For most of us, we can get caught up in the situations of our life and find ourselves at the mercy of others. For most of us, we are so use to being taken care of, we simply can not function without the approval or need of another person. For most of us, we can feel trapped in situations and lost without an exit in sight. And for others we can feel not worthy and or invisible to those around us.
We all have the same opportunities in life. It is what we choose to do with those opportunities that set us apart from each other. Being empowered is celebrating yourself and your success and focusing on the good in your life. How many times do you sit and think about the accomplishments you have made recently? If you are like most, sadly, it is not often. Often times, criticism or negative feedback given to you is probably running through your mind over and over again at all hours of the day and night. To be empowered we must learn to rewire our thoughts and focus on the positive that we have done rather than reliving all the negatives.
Each day is a new chance to focus on the good and fill our minds with the positive.
Each day is a new chance to focus on the good and fill our minds with the positive.
To help you learn to rewire your brain and make a conscious effort to focus on the good in your life, sit down and write out a list of all the good things you have done. Call it a brag sheet, a boast sheet, call it whatever you want. Whatever you call it, just write it out and place it somewhere you can see it each and everyday. I, for one, like to use colored index cards. They hang on my wall next to my work station and they provide me with a constant reminder of where I am going, what I have done, and who I really am. Refer to this accomplishment sheet daily and allow yourself to feel motivated by what you have accomplished in your life. Avoid thinking of the things you have not done or the opportunities you may have passed up, but rater rejoice in what is good. Seeing this and adding to it will give you an instant internal power boost!
In addition, try doing something that is new to you and out of your comfort zone. A few years back I decided I was going to enter into my first 5K. This may not be a big deal to some of you, but to me it was huge. Not only was I not a runner at the time, but I despised running. I would go above and beyond anything to avoid running. But I made a commitment and I joined the Race for the Rose Marathon. http://www.halfmarathons.net/usa_half_marathons_oregon_race_for_the_roses_half_marathon.html
I will never forget the morning of the run. It was dark out. My entire family was asleep in our home, and I was up at the crack of dawn getting ready for my first run. I was full of nerves and truly felt like I could be sick.
But I will also never forget the feeling when I was out there on the streets of downtown Portland with no one but myself, fighting the demons in my mind.
So many times I wanted to give up because the 3 miles run on the streets seemed to be more like 20 miles. But I fought those demons in my head, and I pushed on. When I crossed that finish line, you would have thought I won the Boston Marathon. I was so proud of myself. I felt so alive and so energized and at that very moment I knew... I could do anything I put my mind to.
I was empowered.
But I will also never forget the feeling when I was out there on the streets of downtown Portland with no one but myself, fighting the demons in my mind.
So many times I wanted to give up because the 3 miles run on the streets seemed to be more like 20 miles. But I fought those demons in my head, and I pushed on. When I crossed that finish line, you would have thought I won the Boston Marathon. I was so proud of myself. I felt so alive and so energized and at that very moment I knew... I could do anything I put my mind to.
I was empowered.
This is just a small portion of the things in my life that have made me feel empowered, but it demonstrates the ability that we all have inside of us to be empowered. Think of one thing that scares you the most in your life and go out and do it. Maybe you have always wanted to jump out of plane. Or maybe you have wanted to do a Tough Mudder run. Perhaps you have wanted to learn to Salsa dance. Maybe you have been wanting to talk to your boss about changing your hours at work or taking on a new task. No matter what it is for you, figure one fear out and make an action plan to do accomplish this one fear. The feeling of empowerment that will come to you will be like no other.
We should all feel empowered and we should all empower one another in our lives. It is never too late to do something great, and it's never a bad thing to want to be a better version of yourself each and everyday.
I am...... empowered.
