I Am Powerless

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Patty Sherry

I Am Powerless.

I surrender and embrace that I am powerless. I have NO power. Fighting my lack of power doesn’t change the fact.

I’m sitting in the darkness of my room, the electricity is completely down; it’s the aftermath of Hurricane Irene here in New Jersey….not much to do but ponder.

So, I ponder about POWER.

I ponder about that power we all seem to want in our lives. Wanting to feel more powerful…we read books, go to seminars, and listen to recordings so that we can discover out power, take back our power,feel more empowered.

And feel more in control..

It’s easy to connect or should I say confuse the word power with control. I recognize the natural desire in me to be in control of situations and even of people at times. There is a natural instict that wants to manipulate. I’m aware of how powerless I feel when people don’t act or treat me the way I want them to. It frustrates me when situations don’t turn out as I expect them to.

Like right now, I want to be in control of this damn weather! We are in the middle of a hurricane.

I feel a lack of control when I have no power; I’m vulnerable. Yet, isn’t it funny how you can also feel vulnerable when you do have power? You feel vulnerable that you will lose your power one day. So what do you do? You try to hold onto it.

I’ve tried to hold onto power, and holding onto power can be hard work, not to mention futile. Power is not a tangible thing, it’s a fleeting feeling.

As I literally sit in the dark, all I want is my power. I want to turn on a light, plug in my computer, and connect with the world. It feels so frustrating. I can’t help but laugh at this metaphor of darkness.

I realize how in the dark I really am.
Or maybe I should say I can’t see the light of my own situation. I know if I dig a little deeper I’ll feel this answer. I feel I am in the dark about my own power. I hear my own voice whisper, “Open your eyes a little wider Patty.”

Maybe the very need for power is what has me not feeling so good? Maybe I seek empowerment because I resist being power-less? I resist feeling vulnerable, I resist the lack of control, I resist the unknown.

I admit I am afraid of the unknown. I admit I am afraid to let go of control. This fear is what draws me to seek more power and to want to hold onto it. Power is my security blanket. It’s as if being power-less is the wrong state to be in.

These sudden insights resonate with my body.

In this moment I AM powerless though. My house has no electricity and I have no idea when it will be turned on. This is what is!

I decide for now to just go with the flow, or should I say “the lack of flow” of power; I say it out loud, “ I accept”. I feel a strange sense of peace as I decide to just lay down in my bed, retire for the night, and surrender. Tomorrow is a new day!

At 3am I wake up to the blaring light of my hallway, I’d left that switch on. The electricity has been restored and I’m feeling quite over joyed in the moment.

I have my power!

I’m so excited, and I want to post all about my power and insights on FB. I’ve got the status all prepared:

It is when you embrace your powerlessness that you feel the true freedom of your own power!

As I am about to hit “Post” boom! the power goes out once again. It will stay down for several hours.

As the power goes off again, it takes me a moment for me to get the significance…Walk the walk, Patty, don’t just talk the talk.

I hear the little voice in my head.

It’s so true. Feeling the true freedom of your own power comes when you are willing to embrace and accept the opposite.

As I do this, I can let go of the ”seeking” and simply let it flow.

It’s to come to see that being power-less, letting go of control, not knowing the future is not wrong or bad. It is all how I perceive this moment.

All I really have is this moment, now.

Patty Sherry is an inspirational speaker, writer, and self empowerment coach. For more information please visit my website www.ShareYourLoveStory.com

Are You A Proud Person or Too Proud?

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Patty Sherry

Is my pride based on love or fear?
It’s good to know the difference.

I believe that there are two kinds of pride; the kind that holds me back in life, and the kind that moves me forward. There’s the kind of pride that allows me to have happy, healthy, and satisfying relationships with others and with myself, and there is the kind of pride that simply doesn’t.

It takes some honest inner reflection on my part for me to know the difference.

It can be easy to get caught up in the definition or meaning that you give to the word PRIDE, but I prefer to simply attach a feeling to it: love or fear

My love based pride is proud of who I am and also of who I was. It accepts my past, present, and future. I feel good about myself and I want to show it!

Love based pride lets me easily share my accomplishments from my place of joy. I shine my own light without fear of judgment, and I am confident enough in myself to allow others to shine their light too.

My love based pride puts a value on me. I don’t feel the need to make excuses about what I think or how I feel. I’m proud of my own opinions and I see the value in them. There is a certain confidence to me.

My love based pride allows me to be vulnerable with my emotions, so I don’t need to put up walls. There is no shame in my tears or feelings.

My love based pride allows me move forward and to take chances, it does not hold me back.

…and then there is a fear based pride.

My fear based pride stops me from asking for help when I need it. I’m too afraid to admit I might not be able to do something on my own. Fear based pride leaves me always having to prove myself. I’ll often reject others who seem to be needy.

My fear based pride stops me from admitting I was wrong, or from saying, “I’m sorry”. Being right is more important than being happy, and I am willing to sacrifice the relationship to hold onto my precious pride.

My fear based pride hates to lose, and must win at any cost.

My fear based pride stops me from showing my vulnerability. It pushes people away rather than let them get close. I’m too proud to show my imagined weakness or insecurities.

My fear based pride judges failure. It keeps me in an unhappy job or bad relationship because I would rather keep doing something that makes me miserable than to think that I’ve failed in some way.

Fear based pride always holds me back, it stops me from taking chances, because I’m afraid I won’t succeed.

PRIDE.

I can be a proud person experiencing joyous, loving, and satisfying connections with myself and with the world, or I can be a proud person who is unhappy, unsatified, and often alone.

I can be filled with love, or full of shit; I just need to be honest with myself about it.

I know I don’t want to live my life being too proud to say I’m sorry, I was wrong, or I love you. I don’t want to sacrifice my happiness to be right or to win. I want to allow myself to fail and to grow, to ask for help when I need it, and to let people in.

I want to live life knowing that I am enough and that others are too. I want my pride to exude my love, not my fear. It’s a work in progress.

I’ve often heard people refer to the phrase, “ I’m going to have to swallow my pride…” I say ….”Just spit out your fear.”

The choice really is mine. The choice is yours too.

I Am Woman Hear Me Roar…It’s Time To Sing A New Song!

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Patty Sherry

Let go of the defenses.

As women we don’t need to be bitches, especially with each other.

"I am woman hear me roar? no more"

I admit I’ve been catty, jealous, and even mean in my life toward other women, but that song is so old.

Roaring lions bearing claws? I am a woman moving past this old energy.
I feel so fortunate to be around other women who choose to do the same. We are giving an old tune a new and updated sound.

I am woman. I am enough. Hear me.

See me.
I am not afraid to show myself.

More and more I am willing to be vulnerable rather than stand behind a tough facade. I’m learning that showing your vulnerabilty is not a weakness, it is a strength. It opens you to give more love, and it allows you to receive love in.

Within me, the process is ongoing: recognizing my insecurities, admitting them out loud, judging less. Cattiness toward other women disappears.

If you need to feel superior by knocking me down or you take pleasure from my pain, I’m learning to accept you as you are, I see through you and your fears. However, I don’t choose to roam with you, not if you choose to continue to project your crap onto me. I love myself enough to put myself first.

Did I mention I am a lion? I just don’t need to act like one. I’m confident enough to know my own strength and beauty. I appreciate the strength and beauty of the other lions too. We don’t use our claws to tear each other down. We use our strength and gentleness to inspire and empower each other and the world. We are women choosing to live a new energy.

I am woman. I am enough. Hear me.

As women we don’t need to compete with each other, I’m not interested in having pissing contests in the jungle. We don’t need to criticize each others bodies, clothes, makeup, jobs, or lifestyles. We can accept and support each other as we are.

I realize not everyone will be this way, we are all free to choose. This is the beauty of free will.

But I am really loving the women I choose to be around, and the ones who choose to be around me. This is a sisterhood of sorts, and I like being part of this family.

No one is perfect, and more and more we realize that we don’t have to be. We are letting go of the need to prove ourselves by attempting to be super women. We don’t need to be more, do more, have more, to be more worthy. We are already worthy, and we remind ourselves and each other of this. We are love.

Life is about that love and connection. I love how it feels to live, love, and connect.

I am woman, hear me roar? No more, we don’t need to. We recognize that life is not about power and control, and it is so freeing to let go of this concept. The need to control anything or anyone never brought us more power, it caged us. We are lions who choose to be free.

We are women. We are enough. Hear me.

Patty Sherry is an inspirational speaker and self empowerment coach. For more information about me or what I can do for you, please visit my website ShareYourLoveStory.com

The Power of Intuition…And Acting On It

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Patty Sherry

“Turn here,”

a whisper in my ear led me to drive on Rt 17 rather than take my usual route of the Garden State Parkway to go home.

Northern New Jerseyans know that Rt. 17 in Bergen County can be a parking lot nightmare to drive. Yesterday, however I acted upon that simple whisper. My awareness at the time was the simple thought, “Oh this is different.”

I drove home without incident.

I prepped vegetables for dinner and listened to top ten music on the radio. The traffic update began…

“The Garden State Parkway is now closed north bound at exit 168, there has been a major accident.”

That’s my exit.

I could have chose to drive home that way but I didn’t.

I did not feel in danger when I chose to drive the other route, and I have no way of knowing that the flipped car would have or could have been mine. What I do know is that the accident happened at the time I would have been there, the Parkway was at a standstill, and I avoided it.

I avoided something!

I made a choice.

Analyzing it much further than this doesn’t interest me.

This is a simple story about acting on my own intuition and guidance. It’s important for me to acknowledge these little “whispers” I embrace my choice to act on them.

Awareness of these whispers is not enough, the CHOICE and ability to then act on them is what is more important. It is only when you choose to act that you discover the power of your intuition and what it can lead you to.

I admit that sometimes I ignore the whispers, maybe they aren’t loud enough for me or they just don’t spark me to act. I’m making it a practice to improve my hearing, and to trust more in that tiny voice….” yes….do this, try that, go here” I’m making it a practice to “act more”

I know how delicious life is when I do. My intuition is powerful.

Open yourself to follow your own whispers, and see where they may lead you. You are more powerful than you might know.

Patty Sherry is an inspirational speaker and self empowerment coach. For more information please visit my website ShareYourLoveStory.com or visit my Facebook Page.