HOW TO BE FREE FROM POWER

How 

To Be Free 

From Power

I have been researching the concept and the practice of Buddhism quite long since I found it very deep and applicable to my daily life. 

 

In doing so, I found other concepts and practices that I liked.

 

One of them is Stoicism, Stoic philosophy.

 

One of the stories deals with

How to Be Free From Power

 

First of all, we need to understand what power is or where power comes from.

 

We are constantly influenced by other people or any events that surround us.

 

What is interesting about power is that

some power controls you and other power does not control you.

It counts on the relationship between the nature of power and us.

 

When we value something,

that something controls you.

Then power appears.

What you value has power over you.

 

If you value money, money controls you and has power over you.

If you value status, status controls you and has power over you.

If you value praise, praise controls you and has power over you.

If you value joy, joy controls you and has power over you.

If you value romance, romance controls you and has power over you.

 

If you cannot have access to what you value, you will be desperate.

 

 

 

Power is pretty much related with what you value in depth.

 

It is a classic story of romance,

maybe, we all may have experienced.

 

I valued my ex and she controlled me.

She had power over me.

 

If you value happy photos on Instagram, those photos control you and have power over you.

If you do not have them on your Instagram, you may feel desperate.

 

This is actually an interesting theme

because we want to value someone or something,

but at the same time, we want to be free from power.

But when we value someone or something, we are the one who are creating a foundation for giving someone or something more power.

 

Epictetus from Stoicism said.

“What frightens people and keeps them subdued? It can’t be the tyrant and his body guards;[…] A person’s own thoughts unnerve them. If a tyrant threatens to chain our leg, whoever holds his leg in high regard will beg for mercy,whereas the person who cares more for his character will answer back, ‘Go ahead and chain it, if that’s what you want.’”

 

Epictetus explained that

to regain our power back is to value our own character and choices.

 

 

In the context of a language-learning,

 

If you are afraid of making mistakes in front of people in speaking a foreign language, that means that you value other people’s opinions about your speaking.

 

Then other people’s opinions control you and have power over you.

 

You may feel nervous because of that.

 

If you are a perfectionist driven by people’s opinion or judgment not by your choice or character, still other people’s opinions control you and have power over you.

 

We heard a lot that “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes”.

We rarely heard “Be afraid of making mistakes”.

 

Because in reality we are normally afraid of making mistakes. In depth, we value how we look to others when we make mistakes or fail in something.

It is self-explanatory that we value people’s opinions about us.

 

So the solution is that we need to value what we can control.

 

People’s opinions are unstoppable and uncontrolled.

If you vale what you cannot control, that controls you and has power over you in an uncontrolled way.

That’s not what we want.

 

In the previous blog, I talked about being a fool

and being a fool is a good method to be a good learner (even though it sounds not good) because if you are wise enough, why don’t you need to learn?

 

And if being a fool is your choice, that gives you power.

 

If you value your character and choices, that’s where to regain your power.

 

If you are aware of what you value and what you do not value,

you can have power to control your fear.

 

That helps you how to deal with your nervousness when you speak a foreign language in front of people.

 

What do you value?

Are that important for you other people’s opinions about your speaking?

Let’s be more conscious about why we are afraid.

That makes your speaking practice easier.

 

Key Takeaways

 

• What you value controls you
• What you value has power over you
• Value your character
• Value your choices
• Let your character and choices control you
• Don’t value what you cannot control
• Other people’s opinions about you cannot be controlled
• We are influenced by our surroundings
• So listen to your inner voice
• What threatens is not the fact that others try to control you but the fact that who you are and your choices can absolutely command yourself

 

What do you think about this article?

It is a scary thing that we are so influenced by our environment and surroundings.

 

SEEING IS BELIEVING

But we only see part of the reality

It is hard to get the wholeness

 

It is complicated for me also to measure to what extent choices are mine or of other people. And I wonder if the choice that I make is really my choice or not all the time.

 

Well, there is no single answer to this.

But giving lots of thoughts helps us get more insights.

And it makes a language-learning continue.

 

If this article helps you with your language-learning journey and makes you unstoppable in a language-learning,

that would be what I am looking for.

Hope it is going to be something helpful for you.

 

I am more than happy to receive comments and opinions.

Thanks for reading,

Hilano Aquihisa