So, yesterday morning, I got up early (as I often do) to write for this Bulletin column.
I took a break to make Raif some breakfast and take my morning meditative walk. When I was ready to return to my writing, I couldn’t seem to access the Facebook-owned site where I create my posts.
"Strange", I thought, but figured my internet was running slow so I decided not to fight with it. Instead, I helped Raif with some homework and cleaned up the kitchen.
When I tried to again connect to the site, about an hour later, it still didn’t work. That's when I started to get nervous. I tried joining from other browsers — No deal. I tried logging on to Bulletin.com where my articles actually get posted — Nothing. I even called my assistant to see if she was able to access the site – Nada.
That’s when I realized that all of Facebook’s platforms — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Bulletin and many others — were experiencing an outage. They were all down…Globally.
Whoa!!
The good news is that everything was back up within hours, but during the time it was down, I had some thoughts — the same type of thoughts that usually come up for me. Thoughts about my Personal Power.
What happens when the thing I depend on goes away?
Facebook aside — we do this in many places in our lives. We build our lives (and base our value) on our job title, our salary, our marital status, the car we drive, the vacation we take, the neighborhood we live in, the size of our home, the beauty of our body, the success of our children, and on and on and on.
All of these things can disappear in an instant.
My Process:
I think a lot about who I am without all the other "stuff" added in. I do my best to find my value in the things that are internally mine. My integrity, my generosity, my joy — things that I, alone, have the power over.
I ask myself what my intrinsic value is. Where can I approve of myself instead of depending upon the approval of others?
Try this:
Make a list of what external things you depend upon to give you value. Your home, your partner, your child, your job, your income etc.
List the things about them that you believe add to your value.
For example, it could be "I am a respected doctor" or "my partner is a respected doctor". Then ask yourself what would happen if that goes away tomorrow.
Nothing else changes. Your integrity stays the same, your work ethic etc, but just suddenly out of blue, you are no longer respected.
What would it take from you? Would you still be you? Would you still have value?
Do this with everything on your list.
Now make a list of the internal traits that you possess that would remain unaltered if the winds of change begin to blow — if your job or your salary or your marital status etc. changes.
Now hold onto those — honor those — build upon those. This is how you start taking your power back.
Let me know in the comments below the traits that you discover. I can't wait to read them!
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Until then…
May THE FORCE WITHIN be with you!
Rhonda Ross is a singer-songwriter, an Emmy-nominated actress, and a Personal Power Practitioner. For musical, speaking or workshop bookings: email info@TheRhondaRoss.com