Power…

What is it? Or maybe the question should be what is YOUR power. I’ve been watching an HBO documentary called “The Vow” that has my brain reeling at the audacity, arrogance, and stupidity of the human race. Okay, let me take a step back – people are not stupid, we DO stupid things. This documentary follows the rise and fall of a self-help scheme that included a master/slave sex trafficking conglomerate.

I’m watching this and scratching my head wondering how can anyone fall for this rhetoric that (for most people) should really just be common sense? And then I started thinking…did these people have power? I’m sure at some point in their lives they had their power and then somewhere along the way they lost it. Enter the charismatic (albeit weird AF) Keith Raniere and his kumbaya, ra-ra, sisboombah rhetoric. I have asked myself multiple times while watching this documentary if I could ever succumb to the spellbinding machinations of such a thing. The answer, I fear, is yes – we all can.

I think the single most important aspect of the human psyche is our individual POWER. Our power is as delicate and fragile as the most intricate of spider webs and can be stolen or brushed away before we know what’s happening! That’s what happened with these seemingly intelligent, powerful, people – their power was swiped away by the giant broomstick that was Keith Raniere. The funny thing about him is he was a little man! I’m not saying little men aren’t attractive – he wasn’t! There is nothing redeemable or remotely attractive about the little dude with the high IQ, long scraggly hair, or scruffy beard! Oh, wait a sec, perhaps it was the high IQ that made him seemed so attractive. I just don’t know and I am scratching my head.

Our power is what gives us the will and the strength to continue in this world of ugliness and despair! Our power allows us to overlook all that is dark and gives us hope for a world that is better, brighter, a happier existence. Giving your power away is much like giving your appendage away to someone who may as well use it in some sort of macabre baseball game (think The Walking Dead). Hold onto your power and don’t fall for that garbage of “I can make you a better person in 30-days for the low, low price of $19.99”! Only YOU can cultivate, nourish, and maintain your sense of self and guard your power!