Personalized Empowerment

From the moment I saw this photo it just seemed to symbolize how life works…

and how unfair it can be.

Two trees of basically the same height, size, and presumably age.  Both are exposed to the sun, same amount of water, soil.   There doesn’t seem to be any major threats to either tree’s health so both should thrive.  Yet, the tree on the left is sturdy, full of leaves and life while the other is bare, leaves at it’s base, exposed and dying.

So there must be more to it, right?  Well.. of course there is. We don’t know anything about what’s going on inside each tree.  Maybe a family of termites took up lodging in the tree on the right.  An animal could have dug around the tree, weakening the roots, maybe its trunk is weak or has little resistance to cold… Whatever I suggest as the problem is irrelevant.  What is relevant is acknowledging that there has to be something effecting the compromised tree, something that prevents it from having the resources it needs to survive.   If we were to examine the dying tree thoroughly and not simply look at it’s outer structure, we could figure out what it needs to thrive.

Now imagine two people, similar backgrounds from socio-economic status to schooling to parental discipline.  It’s not to hard to imagine, just look at siblings from the same family!  They’ll each give you a different recount of their childhood and family dynamic to the point where you’ll wonder if they are talking about the same people.  So these two people look the same, act the same, but do we really know what’s going on inside?  Not until we take the time for a closer look.

What we are offered as resources to successfully negotiate the world varies. So we move through life with different coping skills, perceived talents, and beliefs about what we are capable of and what we deserve.  I would suggest to you that even when two people are offered the same resources, whether it’s love, acknowledgment or respect, if the message is not received loud and clear then the individual’s resources are compromised.  We accept or reject positive and negative suggestion based on our own life experiences.

I believe we all deserve to experience happiness, peace, a sense of well being and accomplishment.  Everyone should feel good about who they are what they stand for.   Now the definition of each of the aforementioned feelings varies from individual to individual.  One person might feel a sense of accomplishment and contentment in finding a spouse and nurturing a family while another might find their happiness in a successful career.

Here’s the truth.

The definition doesn’t and shouldn’t matter to anyone but YOU.  Define who you are and what you want out of life and go get it.

This is exactly why you need PERSONALIZED EMPOWERMENT in order to make the positive changes in your life you strive  for…because each of us has come to today with our own set of life experiences that either hold us back or help up to move forward.  You can get the resources you need by poking holes in all those negative messages that got internalized so you can set yourself free from the same old script of life you’ve been following.

Re-frame and rewrite the script.

Take your power back and determine your future as you see it, not what someone else projected through their own biased opinion influenced by their own limited resources.  Realize that you may not have had control over these influences in the past but you can take control HERE and NOW.

That is what personalized empowerment is all about.  I came up with the concept when someone asked me what I do as a psycho/hypnotherapist and why.  I started talking about wanting to give people their voice back, a choice as to how they live their lives and achieve a sense of peace.

So when I started this post I was going to ask the question, “Which tree are you?”

I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter.  Whether you’re the one on the left or right, you can thrive and find your own sense of peace.  It’s time to come to that same conclusion yourself.

Photo Credit