Thoughts on the real essence of empowerment – what does being empowered mean for (today’s) independent and radiant woman?
What does empowerment mean in its literal sense?
Empowerment is a powerful concept. An empowered person feels that they are in control of their own destiny. Being empowered makes a person feel confident and supported in choosing their actions or challenges. Today, empowerment seems to be the reason behind many programs to help women continue working even after having kids or programs to help kids stay in school.
Empowerment is a goal. To feel empowered a person has to develop faith in their abilities and the society they live in. Empowerment is also a feeling. I can feel empowered to take action even if I don’t have all the resources necessary. I can also feel empowered to write this blog post even though I do not have a Phd in philosophy.
Women's empowerment through the ages and today
As it relates to women’s rights, the earliest known example of empowerment has been recorded in 400 BC when Agnodice, a gynaecologist in ancient Greece, was given a death sentence for practicing medicine and later allowed to continue her practice under certain conditions. You can read more about Agnodice here.
There have been many examples of empowered women through-out history and some of these sites list those examples.
1. UWomen.ORG
These are just some examples to highlight different countries and organizations that are trying to empower women enough to have a decent education and means of living.
Even though many organizations are trying to empower minority groups or “disempowered” groups, what they are really trying to do is provide a sense of access to empowerment. Various laws are implement, for example, to protect women or children or seniors – but that is NOT empowerment. Those laws ensure safety and a sense of protection. Empowerment is different because that sense of “feeling powerful” can only come from within, not without.
So it’s impossible to make someone feel empowered. What’s possible is to provide a safe environment for growth or healthcare access so that people can feel that they at least have access to basic human rights. True empowerment comes into being when a person feels alignment with their purest potential and they choose to make choices that make them feel powerful instead of weak
Escapism Vs Empowerment
Why is that even though the average person in North America has enough food, shelter and water, their levels of happiness are low? You can read more about this by clicking on the image below.
It’s quite depressing to see that even though the standard of living is high, people in North America are still unhappy and feel disempowered. To cope with the disempowerment, many people adopt unhealthy coping strategies like substance abuse and alcoholism.
When a person relies on any coping mechanism, they are basically trying to escape their current reality. And that level os escapism happens when people feel that they aren’t in control or em-powered to take any action to improve their lives.
Many people also hide behind morality and choose not to abuse substances like alcohol or illegal drugs. In stead they start abusing their kids (in plain sight) or abusing their partners (verbally) or even abusing their own time by being stuck on social media all day. All this to escape their emotions and current reality. Patterns like over-working, over-eating, over-exercising also qualify as mechanisms used to escape reality.
And most people are not aware that they are escaping their reality because they have numbed their emotions to such an extent that they don’t feel them. And if they do not feel their emotions, they aren’t truly empowered to make real change in their lives.
Being present in this reality CAN lead to the feeling of empowerment.
So how can we be truly empowered so we don’t hide behind escapist tendencies? The answer lies in becoming aware of our emotions and thoughts. And how can we do that? The answer is simple. Spend time alone without technology. Invest time in nature and ask yourself questions about your life and where it’s going. Find time alone and ask yourself how you are really feeling. Spending time alone is important because that’s the only way you will be able to hear yourself and feel your emotions. A few days back I wrote a blog post about how to feel radiant from within. When you read the post you will come across many tips to spend time taking care of yourself so you can CONNECT with yourself again. And feel empowered enough to listen to yourself.
Being alone is difficult for a lot of people because they are not comfortable with the chatter that goes on in their minds. They don’t want to be accountable to their own selves. So it’s easier to be around other people and focus on other people’s problems instead of their own. A few years ago, being alone was impossible for me. If I was left alone, I had to occupy myself by watching TV or spending time on social media.
The key to learning to be alone is to start small. Spend 5 mins by yourself and practice adding 2 mins everyday.
Once we are comfortable spending time by ourselves, it becomes easier to start an awareness practice. Whether that practice is meditation or walking in nature, we begin to question our actions and thoughts. And eventually change them.
Another great strategy is to ask ourselves how we are feeling and then write for 10 mins about our feelings and thoughts. This will help you become conscious of your current thought patterns and help you understand them. Look out for my blog posts about journalling prompts that work for me.
Attaining spiritual empowerment: a deep connection with our spirits
True empowerment is being in complete control of our thoughts – conscious and unconscious. And this happens when we follow a daily practice of ‘just being’. Eventually we become so connected with our spirits that we feel a sense of spiritual empowerment that we can use to change the course of our lives and help others heal as well.
To find out more about how you can become more aware of why your life is the way it is, you can reach out to me through the facebook group I have set up for anyone that wants to rise their level of inner radiance. Click below to join. You can also connect with me using the contact form on my website.
Remember, we are beings. So just be.
