Let’s take these 3 steps together

I hope your holiday weekend was a happy one.

Perhaps, like me, you spent time with people you love, and yet your feelings about celebrating our country’s independence felt more sober this year.

Did you, too, find yourself reflecting on the meaning of independence and freedom with a heavy heart?

I have written about our relationship to freedom before. You may want to read How free do you feel?, that I wrote in July 2021. And 2 years ago my topic was Is your definition of freedom too small?

We cannot take freedom for granted

Freedoms that many of us long took as a given are now gone, and more are in danger.

This can make us feel powerless — a subject I wrote about last week. I included a list of ways we can each use our power now, that you may want to look over.

I believe that taking action is the path to the changes so many of us want to see.

Where and how to start

1. Begin with awareness of your energy

Taking meaningful action begins with our state of mind. Positive thoughts lead to positive outcomes — and, yes, sustaining positive thoughts can feel challenging in times like these.

I invite you to consider the energy you cultivate and bring to your days. As my mentor often reminds me, the energy from which you create (anything) impacts the outcomes you experience.

Practices like these will support you to sustain positive energy, and will impact everything you do.

• Start (or expand) a daily gratitude practice.

• Get ample rest and nourish your body.

• Focus on love. Embrace kindness and compassion.

• Spend time outdoors. Nature is a natural healer.

• Look for wonder all around you. (It’s always there!)

• Notice if you slip into negativity and actively reframe your thoughts.

Positive energy generates more positive energy! The people around you will feel it, and be attracted to it, and a great expanding cycle is set in motion.

2. Consider the people with whom you spend time

We are social creatures, and the people with whom we spend time have a great influence on our state of mind.

Are you surrounding yourself with, or tolerating, people who are bitter, angry, or dour?

Do you actively choose to be with people who are uplifting and inspiring?

When you choose to surround yourself with people who exude positive energy, who are creative thinkers, and who look for opportunities to take meaningful action that aligns with your values, you boost your energy. And, you amplify the impact of your shared efforts, which in turn engages more like-minded people.

And while many of us must interact with people who see the world through a negative filter, appreciate that those interactions can be managed with careful thought and by setting healthy boundaries.

3. Lead the way

Most of us are inclined to sit back and wait for others to lead us.

I believe we all have the opportunity to be leaders now.

Some people will organize efforts on a grand scale, and that is great. We benefit when individuals and organizations bring people and resources together to create collective action at scale.

We can contribute to those large efforts. Each person who shows up to march, writes a check, makes a call, or writes a postcard adds to the positive outcomes that are possible.

And consider this.

Many people fail to appreciate that all of us can take action to lead in small and powerful ways — each day.

In our conversations, in speaking up when we might typically stay silent, in inviting people to be engaged and collaborate, we have power.

Stepping into your power and speaking your truth are key ways you Live Big. The more you do it, the more natural it becomes to live and lead that way.

Please join me

I believe that in this moment we are being called to use our power to restore and expand liberty.

While it will take time and commitment, we can build a society that is just for all, where all can exercise freedom.

Let’s be creators of change and lead together.

How to harness your power now

Today I am thinking about power, and about feeling powerless.

We have enormous personal power — even if it is not unlimited.

I strive to connect to my personal power each day, and I support my clients to embrace and step into their power.

That may be the the most fundamental way we live big.

What does personal power look like?

We claim our power when we show up fully and authentically. We are able to be vulnerable. We show the world who we are, without fear of judgment.

We claim our power when we identify, and then commit to living our values.

We connect to our truth by slowing down and going deep into our hearts. We then speak our truth without second-guessing ourselves.

We live with love as the driver, letting love inform all of our decisions, actions, and interactions.

We take bold action — even when we do so quietly.

We create the best next step to take all day, every day — even when our options are limited or look bleak.

In all of these ways, we exercise personal power.

Our personal power can be put to the test

The Supreme Court decision last week has taken away the right to abortion for millions of people in our country. We knew it was coming. And yet when the news of the ruling arrived, and as we have started to closely look at the way it was written, many of us feel shock and fear.

This is unjust, and contrary to the way the majority of Americans feel about this crucial right.

Add to that the prospect of losing other rights that we have had for years and decades, stripping us of liberty and choice. This compounds the emotions of anger, dread, fear and powerlessness that many of us are processing.

We are being robbed of personal power to make life-changing decisions about our bodies and our futures.

Many are struggling to know what to do.

What can we do when we feel powerless?

Start with creating a foundation that will support you.

1. Feel the emotions

Strong emotions can feel frightening. Whether the fear or anger are so intense you are concerned they may explode, or you are inclined to push the emotions away because they are so big, I invite you to sit with what you feel. Do some writing. Walk out tension in nature. Draw the feelings you feel, or dance the emotions out to music that will move them through you.

Some way of “exercising” your emotions will help you to make your best decisions about what to do next.

2. Speak with like-minded people

This is not the time to isolate yourself. When you engage with others new ideas and possibilities come more quickly. As well, the possibilities of positive action are greater when we collaborate with others.

3. Learn all you can

It is important to be fully informed about the impact of the ruling and related issues — the real toll, the real risks, to real lives.

Next, marshal all of the power at your disposal.

Specific ways we can use our power now

If you share my views in this moment, I invite you to consider these ways to use your power now.

• We each have the power to support candidates for office whose values align with your own. That support can include financial donations, phone banks, postcard campaigns, and more.

• We each have the power to identify candidates who stand for the liberties we believe are the right of every citizen.

• We each have the power to help elect such candidates to local, state and national offices.

• In addition to our power to vote, we have the power to help like-minded people everywhere get mobilized to vote, and help to get them to the polls on election days — in our towns, cities and states, and in locations across the country.

• We each have the power to use our voices, in one-on-one conversations, at rallies, and on many platforms where we connect to others. (This inspiring article shows what one artist created to help people do that in great numbers.)

• We each have the power to support organizations that are focused on helping women to safely access abortion care — especially if they must travel to get that care.

We can all take action and create change

Our collective power has proven to be formidable in the past, and can be now.

We must take action on many fronts.

None of us has to do it all, and we certainly are stronger together than when we act alone.

We can prepare ourselves emotionally, commit to playing our part, and find people and organizations with whom to partner. Together our action will lead to solutions.

As we look ahead to the holiday weekend when we will celebrate the birth of our nation and the liberty it promised, we are aware that liberty was not declared for all when the Declaration of Independence was drafted. As a result of dedicated effort, some gaps were filled over time.

A most important liberty has now been taken away, and this decision is cruelly aimed at women.

We are being called to use our power and stand for personal liberty for all.

Let’s stand together.