Empowerment

Empowerment can be difficult to define; yet easy to recognize when it’s at work in our lives. I think of it as the life force that allows me to steer my ship in the direction of my choosing or the ability to accomplish whatever goals or dreams enter into my thought process. Empowerment is vibrating at such a level that there is no doubt in my mind, or anyone else’s, that I am alive with energy, enthusiasm and reveling at my place in the flow of life.

Perhaps another way of looking at empowerment is a belief in yourself so deep that when you have a great idea, a vision if you will, and adversity meets you face to face, you laugh in that face confident you will prevail. It’s asking questions like “why not?” or “what stops me?” in response to the doubters. It’s knowing you can overcome any obstacle even if the world has yet to recognize that in you.

There have been many influences in my life regarding my sense of empowerment. One of the best books I’ve ever read for inspiring a sense of empowerment is QuirkyAlone by Sasha Cagen. I’ve spoken of QuirkyAlone before and it’s moved from being a book to a worldwide movement. It gives us permission to just be ourselves and applauds those who don’t cave to societal pressure regarding relationships, getting married, buying houses or having kids. It trumpets the idea that staying authentic to yourself is really the best way to be and encourages outward expressions of this such as Singelringen the ring for proud singles. Empowerment reminds us that when someone says “Think outside of the box” the response is an enthusiastic “What box?”

Because I love the QuirkyAlone book so much and want to share that with you, I am giving away three copies of the book. To enter just leave a comment answering one or both of these questions:

What does empowerment mean to you?

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

For extra entries, pimp this contest on your blog and I’ll give you 3 entries. Winners will be chosen by random.org on Wednesday August 6.