– Empowerment

Three floors above an open lobby a large bird was trapped. It kept throwing itself against the glass, not realizing that all it had to do to go outside was fly over the railing and down to the lobby and out the front door. I was afraid it was going to break its neck if it continued its futile attempts. A crowd had gathered watching it. Why wasn’t anybody helping it?

I returned to my room, got a towel, came back, threw it over the bird, scooped it up, took it down the elevator, outside, and set it free. The maids, maintenance men, tourists, and security guards who witnessed it gave me a round of applause. Which felt good. But I was puzzled. What made me a hero?

It’s not that I cared more than others… everyone wanted to help the bird. It’s not that I’m that smart… the towel wasn’t that brilliant. It’s that I was the only observer that felt empowered to do something about the situation. All the others were paralyzed by the feeling that they needed some sort of permission to act. It made me ponder how much better the world could be if everyone felt empowered to act when needed.

Perhaps one of the best things we can teach our children is to feel empowered to act to solve a problem. Perhaps one of the best things we can do for ourselves to heal is to feel empowered to challenge our healers and get in the driver’s seat of our healing process. I give you permission… heehee.

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