Word-Of-the-Week #955: Personal Power
November 24, 2022 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #955: Personal Power
Personal Power – the ability to influence people and events.
How would it feel to be a happier, stronger, more accepting person? Do you enable others without needing any thanks or acknowledgement?
“This form of power comes from individual characteristics rather than formal authority. Personal power is more of an attitude or state of mind. Someone with strong personal power is focused on their self-efficacy and ability to cooperate with others.”
This week features feedback from subscriber Kim who wrote this about WOW #950 on Brighten. I felt was perfect fit for Thanksgiving!
“Nice one! I do enjoy getting and sending thank you notes. I have a few shoe boxes full of them because they are hard to throw away! Every once in a while, I pull a few out and get a good feeling boost of appreciation if I need inspiration to keep trying to help when I feel weary. I am a professor.
I recently went shopping in a small strip mall. The first stop was a small paint store. I walked in and was not greeted by the 2 young men behind the counter who were watching something on their cell phones. Finally, after walking around looking for some brushes, one finally said, I can check you out over here. I told him I wasn’t done and needed some paint; he was not excited to help me, and the other guy never looked up from his phone though he was 6 feet from me and closer than the other guy. I managed to stay happy, thinking my objective was to get what I needed, though it wasn’t easy because I wanted to chastise these 2 employees for being pathetic.
I then walked over to the local Deli and was greeted with a smile and attention from both behind the counter and at check out. It was a good feeling. The third stop was later that night to the Chinese takeout. The young gal greeted me with a big smile and such enthusiasm for my order, that I was actually laughing with her about how wonderful a night it was. I left thinking how wonderful it must be to be so happy wherever you are and whatever you are doing, it is all in YOUR attitude and not the responsibility of others.
I thought how earlier those 2 paint store guys kind of brought me down and made me mad, (actually I made myself mad) while the smiles of others brought me up.
I realized the power I had to buoy myself with my own attitude at all times. And it seems that gratitude is a game changer. The difference was in the gratitude of the employees, and it is easy to be warmed by someone’s gratitude, but better to be the source of gratitude.
So as much as my collection of letters warms me often, it is my daily and ever-present gratitude for whatever I am doing that really brightens my day. Just like the story below about the airport security employee, “I will have what she is having!”
This week’s all about having personal power. Are you happy to hear other views and not feel threatened by their own beliefs or convictions? How good are you at cooperating with others? Do you realize that you can buoy your attitude at all times? And choose to have a Happy Thanksgiving! And if you want more info on Personal Power click here.
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