CHAPTER 2
Let me bring you back to our work-a-day world life again, and raise the central theme of this book, namely self-empowerment. By this high sounding word self-empowerment, I mean fully utilizing the powers I have as a human being to influence my life. Most of us are generally ignorant of these powers in us and hence the need to empower ourselves. The questions that we raised in the last chapter also empower us by making us face the reality of our mystery filled life. I am attempting below to unfold a seemingly minor facet of this mystery.
An ancient question that man has often asked is about his freedom to make his life. Is my life pre-destined or I determine the course of my life? This question has to be answered in the background of perspective from which we look at life. From the broadest perspective of life, we can see that we have no hand in the making of genes that determine our basic system of body and mind. Neither do we have any say in the entire ecosystem that supports the life on this tiniest of tiny planet on this universe. Of-course we never had any say in the way this entire gigantic universe has been designed, made and run. All the same it runs just perfectly to support life on this infinitesimally small planet called Earth by supplying it energy from billions of mile away star called Sun.
On the face of it, what we have understood above, it seems that our life is predetermined and we do not seem to have any control over it from a macro perspective. Now let us look at life from a micro perspective. I and you have the power to change our attitudes, values and self-image. We have the power to behave differently in different circumstances; react or act based on our power of discrimination. We can use our creativity, imagination, will power and effort to move things. This power definitely we have, howsoever tiny it may seem from the larger view of life. But this so-called tiny power can make the difference in our lives; the difference between hell and heaven, to say the least.
I can give the analogy of a dog moving behind the master chained by a three-meter long rope. The dog has no freedom to move away more than the rope’s length, however it has the freedom to move as far as the rope allows. The rope can be short or very long. There is another dimension to it. If the dog is responsible and does not create nuisance on the road for others and also follows the master’s commands then the master may keep him free without the rope too. It depends on the level of responsibility the dog displays. This analogy is gross approximation of man’s freedom to determine his life.
Different people use the power they have to different extent. The degree of power one can have is directly proportional to the degree of responsibility one takes for one’s life. It is a matter of one’s understanding that one has the resources of power within one’s reach to make the difference in one’s life. Some people may be completely blind to the power within them and live a hopelessly miserable life blaming others for their predicament. Blaming others, i.e. making others responsible for one’s situation is one of the commonest style of operating for self dis-empowered persons. By blaming others we are becoming blind to the power we have to make a change in our lives. When others are responsible for my predicament, it is comfortable feeling not to blame oneself and bask in the feel-good world where others are at fault. But for this comfortable feeling, which lasts for a short-while, one has to pay a heavy price in the long term which can be bad relationships, bad moods, recurring cycles of misery and so on. This also means no change in oneself for the better because there is hidden assumption that others are at fault for my condition and there is nothing for oneself to do. One does not make use of one’s power and on the contrary contributes in making one’s life miserable whereas one blames and believes that others are making him/her miserable.
Taking responsibility does not necessarily means blaming oneself. It may mean that I can manage the cause of the problematic situation, it is specific to the particular situation and is temporary i.e. will be over when managed and not permanent. For instance, my poor business results can be attributed like this: I did not work hard to sell my products, it is specifically to my business at this point of time and not that I always make losses. This kind of assigning of reason for poor results in business gives me power and hope to improve my business. On the other hand, say I blame myself like this: I am a failure, I always make losses not only in business but everywhere and things will always be like this. Then I am disempowering myself by creating negative feelings of hopelessness that will make me more of a failure than a success. We must consciously make sure that our attribution of causes gives us the power to manage things, is specific to the particular instance and is of temporary nature only. This is optimistic attribution and is a way to empower oneself.
This power one has can be used for both one’s own development and for bringing about change in one’s organisation, community and society. There are many well-known examples of this self-empowerment which people have used for themselves and their societies. Take for instance Gandhiji. When he came to India from South Africa, he had practically no influence on the Indian Freedom Movement. But look at the way he transformed the same movement and brought it to success. Take another example of the same era, Dr BR Ambedkar. He not only improved his life chances but also for his entire community and made such impact on the society that it is being felt even to this day.
There are numerous examples in the business world. Dhiru Bhai Ambani of Reliance Industry is one of the most glaring examples of self-empowerment. He has been able to build a multibillion-dollar empire in the span of one generation’s time. Same with Bill Gates, a first generation entrepreneur. There are many not so daring examples in the form of first generation entrepreneurs who have made a mark in the society.
Similarly we can quote the examples of religious leaders who have created new religions but had very humble beginnings. Whether it is Christ or Mohammed or Guru Nanak or Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Ravi Das. I am quoting marvelous examples to drive home the point, however many such examples at smaller scale can amply demonstrate the freedom and power we have to make a difference to our lives and lives of others.
Are we making the most of this power we have or we are just wasting away this hidden treasure and living like a beggar who begged all his life without knowing the big treasure lying hidden under the earth where he used to beg.
Here are some self-tests for oneself to know one’s level of empowerment. Am I blaming others or taking responsibility for my situation? The answer to this question will reveal the extent to which I am using the power within me. Do I get angry with others often? Because anger implies that others are at fault. Am I making a difference in others and my own life? The greater the impact for the better the greater I am using my power. Am I taking responsibility for my bad moods? How often I am in bad moods? A self-empowered person is a cool, collected and well controlled man. His/her life is balanced and disciplined. Of-course he is not over disciplined, his life is like the well tightened string of the musical instrument which is taught enough to produce good music but loose enough to have flexibility. There are many such tests with which one can evaluate one’s empowerment.
Empowerment translates in practical terms into a life of fulfillment. In fact the central theme of human life from birth till death is empowerment. The little baby feels very powerless and makes effort to move in the direction of powerfulness by learning the ways to manage living. Later as one grows, one makes greater efforts to acquire mastery in various fields. Successful people are powerful people.
One can use one’s creativity to empower in various ways. The power is already there in one’s own self, waiting to be tapped. Just be alert towards it and tap it. In the chapters that follow I am taking different facets of our life with particular focus as to how can we bring about a change for the better in our lives by harnessing the powers that are already within us. Not only harnessing these powers but also how not to fritter away the same.