Last month I wrote a series of articles about the power of your presence and I received some requests to write more on where and when the power of their presence is relevant in life. My short answer is “it’s relevant everywhere and always!” Engaging the power of your presence is essential for realizing your desired experiences in life and the legacy of your life. It is not some new age-ism or woo woo, although what you hold as sacred is relevant to how you live your life. Wherever you show up-be it in your family, your relationships, your work-you have power and your presence is what others respond to. Many times in life you will be called to engage your power and presence and you will feel victimized by others if you do not.
Many are the external authorities in life telling you what is true and how to live your life. While external authority can be useful for a child, learning to engage the power of your presence is essential for a life that feels on purpose and has meaning for you as an adult. Engaging the power of your presence is becoming clear and congruent with what is true for you. And then showing up, speaking up, and standing up for what you care about. This is the power of your presence in real time.
What is true for you will change over time, for different ages and stages require different priorities. But what rarely changes and will expand in impact as you proceed through your life are the guiding principles and values you hold dear. Your values and principles are meant to serve as guiding lights for your choices and actions in life. When your choices align with your values and principles, you realize satisfaction and joy in your life. When your choices do not align with your values and principles, you can feel frustrated and even despairing of realizing what you seek in your life.
So why does it matter whether you take up living the power of your presence-or not? Because not engaging the power of your presence is akin to sitting in a car, not putting gas in it, and then wondering why you’re not at your desired destination. And because you and your legacy matter.
What do I mean by your legacy? While we may consider a person’s legacy to involve money, a person’s legacy is larger than their financial worth. Legacy includes what you accomplish as well as the impact you have with the people you intersect with in life. Legacy in the simplest terms is the story of your life… the dragons you slay, the love you offer, and the faith in yourself and life you lived.
To live your legacy often means you will need you to update your beliefs and your choices. Often when I begin working with a person, we run into beliefs formed in childhood when they had little power or control. People emerge from childhood often with beliefs of being helpless or feeling hopeless to realize something they seek in life. The beliefs you have about yourself and your capabilities often need updating to align with the power you now have as an adult. When people don’t update their beliefs about their power, they often believe themselves helpless or that it’s hopeless to make things better somewhere in their life or in a relationship.
Living your legacy is living as though you and your life matter and have impact. Because you and it does. Living your legacy doesn’t mean people will always agree with you, nor always like your choices, nor want to be your bestie. It does mean you will live with clarity and congruence to your deepest values and with faith in yourself and in life. Living your legacy is not mistaking control for strength nor discounting the difference you make when you show up, speak up, stand up for what matters to you. It’s holding yourself with love as the powerful and creative being you truly are and a work in progress that we all are.
In my next newsletter I’ll share some thoughts about embracing fierce compassion as a requirement for a life on purpose and an antidote to anxiety in our challenging and changing world.