Restoring Power

So, this last cold snap episode is simply the latest example of the futile human labors against the power of Nature. Pushed to the limits of life by a year of lockdowns, connections broken, business adjustments in process and relationships with co-workers, Zoom mtgs. Kids with masks and not understanding the world we adults grew up in and learning about a new one that we don’t clearly understand and all of it drives an agenda of both action and sloth. To be held to the tyranny of constant monitoring with the on-line connections, and the downtime of being held hostage by governmental mandates rooted in capricious acts and random uncertainty. And then the power went out for large swaths of the populace.

The need to restore power, to those that have lost it, is real and an act engaged in by many that brave the elements to benefit people that they do not even know. The function of restoring the basic needs continues and with it a degree of security comes back into balance to those effected. This is the reality that those that were affected know firsthand. To have been denied stability and security and been given a threat to their future, they are in need of more than simple utilities.

What is this that is needed? It is to restore the power of their own life and the little bit of control they have over it. The need to reset and rebalance the small bits that they can rearrange on the desk or table. What does that look like? Well in many ways it is the same as turbulence in a plane. It will jostle you about, but you have no control. Even the pilot has only limited control and you aren’t them.  So, you sit in the best seat you can justify and drop and shift and roll. The seatbelt does what it can but is of little value. The difference is found in the people that realize it and those that cannot let go of their need to control that which is not to be controlled. 

Farther back in the plane the bumps may be greater but there is no control for those in the farther forward seats. So, what is there to do? Nothing is not quite the right term, but it is close. Active passivity might be closer to the truth but seems confusing. There is a Yiddish term called Shabbat, that means to stop. To actually act at stopping. Think of it as a volitional act of nothingness. To stop the parade of mind-numbing activity, from checking your phone to running the kids to the next activity. STOP. Be mindful of your sanity for 60 seconds and you can break the flow of anxiety. Ponder the outdoors, walk around the car and wonder at how it has developed in 100 years. Be grateful for the windshield wipers and heated seats. Break the flow of cortisol to your brain for even only one minute and this will change your life.  It will restore the power to your soul.

Restore a bit of control of things that you cannot control. Doing this in the plane is limited to your mind. To be at peace in the midst of chaos is a choice. To be clear about your ability to affect change to your situation is limited, so changing your mind is what you can do. Be the one walking when others are running. Be the calm one when others are panicking. Obviously planning matters, when you can, but when you cannot you simply cannot. 

To restore power to yourself means you need to give yourself permission to do so. To work in the in-climate weather of change and deadlines and little tyrannies of other peoples fears. But to work anyway. This is the role of you taking back the power of your life from those that you gave it too, or those that stole it from you. Petty bosses and tyrant children can both be dealt with, but so can your mind. Take back the power you gave to fear and anxiety. Return and restore back the power to heal your own soul. Reestablish control in the places that had lost it. Stand and know who you are. It is time to restore the power in your own world and perhaps help others in theirs.

This is within your grasp. To take a single minute and rest your mind on that which is hopeful and beautiful. Nature helps, but you can visualize that which is good and positive with only your mind. When Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in prison, he felt he was “more free than his captors”, and all we have had is a cold snap and some petty tyrant governors. We can do better. Stop the flow of crazy. Skip the news tonight and go for a walk. Amble around the block and notice that your neighbors aren’t looting and creating chaos. Your life is better for believing it to be so.  So believe it to be so. Notice that life is good. Call your mom, write a letter (for a change), smile at the stranger, drop off some groceries at the food pantry. You can handle this. You can restore power to the grid. You can be a generator of that which has the power to provide light in a dark place. To give. It is time to rest your head on the steering wheel when you get home and take a minute to simply be grateful you are still breathing. Share your attitude of gratitude with a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. You are worthy of your story, and the telling thereof. Tell your story. Tell of the restoring of the power to heal. The world needs you. I need you.