Internal and external power

The Asatti lecture Friday night was about internal and external power. Here's a list of some points I thought were important:

• Power struggles occur because of the illusion of scarcity (of everything - love, power, money, time, etc)


• Internal power comes with the realization that there is no shortage of power (i.e. no scarcity).


• External power is a result of an attempt to manipulate events/people so that we feel safe in our world


• When we feel internally powerful, we begin to disengage from external power struggles


• Passive (victim)personalities often give up their power very quickly. Their thought is that they'll be clubbed over the head & their power taken anyway, might as well avoid the struggle and give in immediately. The way to respond to this is to refuse to take their power and give it back to them. Soften yourself & retract a bit of your energy - give them a bit more space so they can feel safe & step into it.
  
• The way to deal with a bully is to refuse to engage.


• It is our choice as to whether or not we speak up when we see external power struggles that seem inappropriate (example: a parent abusing a child). We choose to engage or not based on how we wish to define ourselves in relation to that type of situation/problem.


• 'Firehose' type reactions (immediate, strong, perhaps overwhelming) are often based on purely mental ideas of how we think we 'should' react to a given situation (collective conscious programming). The higher response is to take a moment to connect with how we really feel - not how we think we should feel. This could involve asking for a moment, getting a drink of water, calling someone back, etc and taking a few minutes to bring energy to the fourth chakra and try to find out own truth.


• Internal power is also a result of knowing your truth - knowing how you truly feel in the moment, regarding the issue or event. Once you realize your own truth, it becomes less important what other people say or think about the issue/event. This makes it easier to release the need for external power.


• Sometimes, speaking your truth doesn't result in the outcome you expected.


• Sometimes, it's enough to simply speak.


• We have zero control over how others respond to our truth. We can only be clear within ourselves and come from the highest possible place. Their response is their choice.


• We are under no obligation to explain why something is true for us.


• The intent behind the words is more important than the words themselves. Speaking the *right* words with the (perhaps unconscious)intent to gain external power is not always effective. Personal note: This is why I have tried to become more and more conscious of my motivations for doing something. If it feels like a ploy to gain me something, I do a major rethink before setting out again.


• When you engage in external power struggles (even unconsciously), people sense it immediately and instantly begin to try and protect themselves. The contract and draw their energy back. This is counter-productive to effective communication because their hearts are closed and they've probably disconnected from how they're feeling. The possibility of getting an authentic response is then severly limited.


• People who channel a larger amount of energy or who have very strong energy need to be aware of the effect their energy has on others. To effectively communicate, it may be necessary to soften your energy or bring it back into yourself a bit. This allows the other person room to expand outward.

Symptoms of external power struggles: speaking faster, raising the voice, hand gestures/waving, the sensation of wanting to step back from the other person

I realize this is a list with minimal personal commentary but it's mainly for my benefit. I was thinking about the points that were most important for me and writing them out helps me cement them internally a bit better.