|
QUESTIONS
If you were not at the Gatherings at which we focused on Power and would like a chance to look inside yourself before being influenced by the notes, here are some interesting questions to contemplate. After answering the questions for yourself, return to the Gathering Notes page to explore further.
General Concepts/Aspects of Power
- Make a long list of everything that comes into your mind when you ask it: What is power? Now take a look at the list of ideas you created and try to identify types of power that are negative, unhealthy, out-of-balance and types of power that are balanced, healthy, positive. Some of the items will be neither positive or negative (neutral) or they may have both positive and negative aspects to them.
- What old stuff do you keep inside about power (definitions, emotions, reactions)?
- What is yin power? Yang power?
- Contemplate the idea that a janitor or homeless person can be as powerful as the president of the US or the CEO of a company. What is your initial response to that (be honest with yourself)? As you think on the idea for a bit, does anything shift inside you?
- What is the difference between power and authority? Does all authority necessarily include power?
- Can you want everyone around you to be fully experiencing their own personal power? Can you truly desire that every being be totally successful?
My Relationship with Power
- How are you powerful?
- How do you feel about your power?
- What would you like your relationship with power to be?
- What domains do you exist in (work, home, friends, shopping, community, groups, hobbies, etc.) and how are you powerful in each of those domains (influencing our own experience and the experiences of others)?
- How do you integrate your values, talents, and goals into your relationship with power?
- How do you include your limitations into your relationship with power? If you feel you are not very good at some things, how do you include those limitations in your power? Limitations of your positional power (title)? Which of your belief systems are limitations to your power? Are you powerful WITH your limitations? Or are you telling yourself you cannot be powerful until you no longer have any limitations?
- How do you include the unknown and the unknowable in your relationship with power.
- What keeps you from your power?
- What stories do you tell yourself about what needs to be done, etc. before you can be powerful? When will you be "ready" to be powerful?
Power in my Relationships
- How does power affect my relationships? (Consider at least three categories of relationships: (1) peers, friends, siblings, etc., (2) authority figures such as parents, bosses, teachers, etc., and (3) with people you have authority over.)
- How do I want power to be included in my relationships?
- How do I deal with relationships that feel "unequal"?
- When do I make myself small in relationship?
- What do I do when I am afraid I will over-power someone else?
- What do you do when you are afraid someone else will over-power you?
- Look at the times where you have felt powerless or at the times you labeled others as powerless and see where you believed the power actually existed in those situations. Then correlate those with your life choices; looking for evidence that you may have chosen to behave in the ways that those who appeared to have power behaved. For example, if you felt powerless as a child and you believed that your parents were powerful, you might find that without realizing it you are emulating some of your parents' behaviors.
After answering the questions for yourself, return here to explore further. |
