Affirmations – Empowered

Happy Friday! As always, that means it’s time for affirmations. I review the previous week and look to the week ahead, then set my intentions.

This week has been quite challenging, for a number of reasons. Personal stuff. Deadlines. Family obligations. And then on top of all that, I’ve come down with a cold. Or maybe it’s allergies. At any rate, I rarely get sick. And now I feel yucky and rundown and it’s pouring rain and my throat hurts and my head’s all stuffed up and all I want to do is cuddle up under a blanket and sleep.

But.

Personal stuff.

Deadlines.

Family obligations.

In contrast, I received a kind message yesterday from someone on one of my social media accounts. She and I are in very similar personal situations. Out of the blue, she told me I was on her mind, and that she wanted to tell me how much she admired me. She told me I was empowered and that I seem to have found my place, both in life and professionally. She concluded by saying that she was enjoying watching the next chapter of my life unfold.

Well …  

I was flattered, to say the least. And, of course, the timing was impeccable. Here I am feeling run over by life and trying to muster the energy to double fist Benadryl and ice cream until I pass out. And I receive this lovely missive from someone I’ve never even met in person.

We wound up having a brief chat about our (eerily similar) situations, which really made me think. So often, when we realize we are stuck somewhere we’d rather not be, we feel helpless and alone. It’s so easy to feel sorry for ourselves.

“Oh, everyone has problems. But they’re not like my problems.”

I’m calling horsefeathers on that.

We forget that we are the masters of our own fate. We are oblivious to the fact that everything we need is already inside. If we don’t know something, we possess the tools to figure it out.

We are empowered.

All it takes, sometimes, is a friendly reminder. A look in the mirror. A message from a friend. A nudge from the Universe.

After this chat and a night of Benadryl-aided sleep, this morning I saw a quote that really resonated with me, and it’s a perfect match for where I am right now:

They broke the wrong parts of me. They broke my wings and forgot I had claws.

OK, Universe, I hear you. Loud and clear as the rain plummeting onto the asymmetrical roofline outside my window right now.

So, my affirmation for this week is this:

I am empowered to take control of my own fate. I am empowered to change or fix what is holding me back. I am empowered to make the moves that will get me where I want to be.

With that, I’ll log off. Here’s to a productive day and a relaxing weekend.

Do you use affirmations?