I've Got The Power

I’ve always had a fascination with the word “power”. Many popular books contain the word power in the title like “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale, “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene, “The Power of your Subconscious Mind” by Dr. Joseph Murphy, and many others. Thunder and lightning are always fascinating in the power that they represent and I often wonder “if this is just a little inkling of God’s power what is the full magnitude of his strength?"

God is often referred to as “omnipotent” meaning “all-powerful”. So if God is all-powerful it begs the question “how powerful are we mere mortals and how powerful can we become?” The word power sounds explosive and full of unlimited strength. Dictionary.com describes 'Power'as:

1. The ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.
2. Political or national strength
3. Great or marked ability to do or act; strength; might; force.

In looking at these definitions something becomes very apparent … that in order to be powerful one needs to be power-filled. So where do we plug into this power? One would hazard a guess from the one who is “all-powerful”, right?. I often envision power being transferred through focused prayer and meditation and most importantly seeking out and plugging into God. Time spent in prayer and meditation strengthens the mind, body, emotions, and spirit. The same way you plug your cell phone into a power outlet to get it fully charged is the exact thing that prayer and meditation can do for you. More often than not you'll be left with an undeniable sense of clarity, purpose, capacity, and competence.

Harnessing power begins with recognizing your power source and plugging into that power source. All things made manifest here in the physical realm were first made manifest in the spiritual realm. Great buildings, magnificent works of art, revolutionary inventions, and remarkable monuments were all first inspired in the hearts and minds of great men and women. The word ‘inspired’ is originally drawn from its Latin roots meaning “in spirit” and inspiration comes from God. To receive inspiration is to receive power. To be visionary is to receive inspiration and to receive inspiration is to receive power. So here comes the hard part, the challenge for all of us to use that power responsibly. That’s when many of us falter by not recognizing “to whom much is given, much is required” and what is required is responsibility. Yes being responsible with your personal or corporate power is an imperative and essential for using power as it is intended. One of my favorite authors and business leaders Brian Tracy describes being ‘responsible’ as being 'response-able', the ability to respond with complete and utter competence.

Years ago I read a juggernaut of a book that was instrumental in my own personal effectiveness and spiritual growth entitled “Ordering your Private World” by Gordon MacDonald. Very similar in its content and subject matter is Richard Foster’s breakthrough masterpiece “The Celebration of Discipline”. Both books speak to the merits of cultivating a “Secret Garden” or developing an inner spiritual life of power through prayer, meditation, simplicity, solitude, service, worship, fasting or just taking some time away from the things that can become strongholds or addictions. Both books focus on the development of a calm, simple, and poised inner life. Two of the many take-aways is that confusion or chaos is the enemy of calm and that real and undiluted power can only be found in the calm. God is definitely not the author of confusion but our choices can be. Your power source is waiting, fully charged, and just waiting for you to plug in. So my question for you today is ... How powerful or power-filled are you?

What’s ‘Forgiveness’ got to do with it?

Lately I’ve been wondering whether forgiveness belongs in the work place and have come to the resounding conclusion that, “Yes!…100% it does!” Most exceptional leaders are engrafted with a forgiving heart because they inherently understand that the way to personal and corporate maturity is through not letting personal offenses, slights, or disruptions have the last say, and having the ability to move quickly past them. They understand that failure and blunders, more often than not, give way to growth, evolution, and transcendence. They see failure and moving past conflict as a rite of passage on their way to success. As leaders, they recognize that they are not perfect and they do not expect anyone else to be either. They seek peace and pursue it.

If you and I are like most people, we hold little grudges even though we don’t acknowledge them as such. We accumulate little mental markers similar to the Monopoly cards that say “Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200”. We quarantine offending persons into little categories like “do not trust this person and most definitely do not like them”. The critical difference between mediocre leaders and exceptional ones are that exceptional leaders see the “big picture” and do not let petty grievances serve as distractions or impediments. Their gaze is firmly fixed on the end goal and they inherently know that harmonious, peaceful, loving work environments are breeding grounds for success in character and in organizational effectiveness. They resolve conflicts expediently and unflinchingly. They shine a bright and blinding light on the proverbial “elephant in the room” and expose strife for what it is. They dismantle un-forgiveness in its infancy.

Exceptional leaders know that in order to maintain a clean, crisp, visionary, and progressive organization, there is no room for un-forgiveness. They lead by example and “walk their talk”. They see the term “Conflict Resolution” as a nice, technical way of saying “Forgiveness Resolution”.

Un-forgiveness is a germ that, when allowed, can pollute and poison a potentially dynamic organization otherwise poised to accomplish great things.

So how can we deal with this deadly emotional virus? There’s a simple solution – name it, confront it, root it out, and move on. Life can be challenging enough without the unbearable weight of un-forgiveness. The minute un-forgiveness rears its ugly little head in the form of slights, dirty looks, off-handed remarks and the like, act swiftly; nip it in the bud, use tact and diplomacy and, most of all, large doses of love. But don’t ever ignore it … don’t ever ignore it!

Your challenge for today, this week, and this lifetime, is to examine all of the ways that you have been un-forgiving and decide to make a change right now; evolve into a better version of yourself – a forgiving version of yourself. I dare you!

Note: This article has been published in MOTIVATED Magazine Online on July 27th at: http://motivatedonline.com/whats-forgiveness-got-to-do-with-it/