If You’re Empowered Do Other People Become Disempowered?
Empowerment is not a zero-sum matter. When you’re empowered nobody becomes disempowered.
One of the most dangerous false narratives in our society today is around what equates to selfishness.
In many respects, nearly every act of self-care, self-focus, and anything else that puts you first is considered selfish. If you don’t give enough time, energy, work, and what-have-you to your family, friends, and community – before self-care – you’re being selfish.
This false narrative is the bedrock of a far larger issue. That issue is the zero-sum approach to the workings of life, the Universe, and everything.
What does zero-sum mean? It’s best defined as this: if there is a winner there is always a loser. If you win, someone loses. Conversely – if they win, you lose.
That extends out to artifices of lack and scarcity. There’s not enough of ‘X’, insufficient ‘Y’, and if you don’t have it you lose.
Worse, if someone else gets that falsely lacking or scarce thing, you will suffer. This has been used in every racist, sexist, gender identity, and similar fight. If “they” get rights, you lose them. If “the other” gets freedoms, yours will be taken.
You’re not paying attention to the world around you if that doesn’t look familiar. For example, Black Lives Matters is not some radical movement to take away white lives or rights – it’s to find and create equal footing. Remember that takeover of that federal park by a bunch of white militants several years back? Remember how no violence ensued? Do you think, if they’d been black militants, authorities would have hesitated to go in, guns blazing, and murder them all? That’s what Black Lives Matter is trying to draw your attention to.
My point is this – when you’re empowered nobody is similarly disempowered.
The zero-sum narrative is a lie
With the exception of professional sports and certain other contests – you are not in competition with anyone else. We are not competing. Not like humans were thousands of years ago.
And even then – communities formed and grew and stabilized by coming together. Ever notice how war does nothing but create a lot of dead bodies and destruction? Even if one side dominates, everybody loses. Truly selfish power-grabbers always fail. Always. Why? Because they are in false competition.
When it comes to things human beings need – there’s more than enough. The lack and scarcity of nearly every resource you can think of is false. And the competition to get jobs, luxury goods, homes, and so on is utter bullshit.
Yet here we are, frequently competing with one another to our mutual harm. The whole idea of there not being enough sets us all up to suffer.
Despite the material focus of our consumerist society – all the things they try to sell you won’t give you inner peace, satisfaction, or happiness. Or at least, not genuine, lasting versions.
Material, tangible things can help you grow, enjoy your life experience, and thrive in various ways. But the true needs of human beings, however, are immaterial. They’re mental, emotional, and spiritual – which in turn feeds the physical.
What you need more than anything else is to be empowered.
Nobody is disempowered when you’re empowered
Though I’ve only just begun it, I’m reading a truly fantastic book by Dr. LaNysha T. Adams called Me Power. It was this book that inspired this topic – and I’m convinced I’ve found a kindred spirit in the idea of what empowerment truly is.
In a nutshell – power is frequently focused externally toward others. You see people “in power” who have “power over” others. This sometimes gets so carried away that a cult of personality will influence the masses against their better judgment and needs.
Empowerment is not something you get from without – it comes from within. It’s your power, and it’s your right and privilege as a member of the human race to have and use it.
When you’re empowered, those who seek to have the power of control over you lose it. Why? Because you gain the knowledge of who, what, where, how, and why you are. Knowledge that, when all is said and done, only you can have.
This isn’t something you can take from another – or even from yourself. It’s given. Both in the sense that it’s given to you and that it’s a given for you.
You are the ultimate decision-maker in your life. Only you know your moral compass, what lights you up, and where you desire your life to be. When you’re empowered, you gain control over directing your life.
Does that disempower others? No. How can it? You can only live your life – and not someone else’s. Similarly, nobody can live for you, either.
When you’re empowered, nobody is disempowered because empowerment isn’t finite. Empowerment is of the self – and never lacking, scarce, or insufficient. And because it’s not a zero-sum competition, when you’re empowered nobody is disempowered.
Likewise – when someone else is empowered you’re not disempowered.
Mindfulness plays its part
You’re empowered not by some other being or entity – it comes from within. It’s a product of yourself. And that is generated via conscious awareness.
Conscious awareness – mindfulness – is self-knowledge, here and now. Mindfulness is conscious awareness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. With that awareness comes control.
When you consciously, actively control what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, what you’re doing, and your intentions – you’ve empowered yourself.
How, in any way, does that disempower other people? It doesn’t.
Every single person on this planet can be empowered. And when society empowers any marginalized group – that increases overall societal empowerment. Black people don’t want to erase white people, LGBTQA+ people don’t want to force cis-gendered straight people to their identities, immigrants don’t want to take your jobs away, and so on.
But when all are empowered – ALL are empowered.
The false narratives of selfishness, zero-sum, lack, scarcity, and insufficiency are intended to disempower many for the benefit of a select few. Ever notice how all these narratives only take and never give? How is that to the benefit of anyone?
As to selfishness – true selfishness is the product of malice of forethought. You take knowing full well you’re causing harm, depriving someone of something, and with no kindness, compassion, or empathy for the hurt that inflicts. Some actions will be perceived as selfish – like withdrawing consent, ceasing to be a good-natured doormat, setting boundaries, and the like – but when you feel bad about it you’re not truly selfish.
Can you see the stories in the collective consciousness for what they truly are? Can you see that when you’re empowered, other people aren’t disempowered by that? Do you recognize that others being empowered doesn’t disempower you?
Recognizing that when you’re empowered others aren’t disempowered (and vice versa) isn’t hard
It’s all about working with mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, and intentions to direct your actions.
When you see and recognize the false narratives around selfishness, zero-sum, lack, scarcity, and insufficiency, you can be more aware of how when you’re empowered, others aren’t disempowered – and vice versa. Knowing that with mindfulness you can take control of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions, you can give more kindness, compassion, and empathy for the wants and needs of others.
This empowers you – and in turn, your empowerment can empower others around you. Then that can expand to change the bigger picture matters, too.
Taking an approach to positivity and negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts matters in a way to open more dialogue. In that form, you can explore and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.
Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.
Lastly, the better aware you are of yourself in the now, the more you can do to choose and decide how your life experiences will be. When that empowers you, it can also open those around you to their empowerment.
To me, that’s a worthwhile endeavor to explore and share.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
This is the four hundred and seventy-second entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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