🧚♀️ TREE 357: You are nearly powerless
The boring ol’ materialist’s guide to manifesting, part 4 of 10
One.
So far…
Now…
If this was a sparkly guide, I would be telling you about how you – yes you! – are so amazing that you can manifest a unicorn-powered Lamborghini to whisk you off to dinner with Ryan Gosling.1
Instead, I’m taking you on a brief tour of your lack of power.
You can’t do interstellar travel.
You can’t fix what’s going on in Ukraine.
You can’t speed up traffic when you’re late.
You can’t force someone to change their beliefs.
You can’t control which thoughts wander into your mind.
You can’t choose when you will need to poo.
Fill in the gaps and you’ll realise you have power over just about nothing.
Once you accept your powerlessness, you can direct your energy away from things outside your control and pour it into the few areas where you do have power. Turn this into a life skill, and you will be well on your way to manifestopia.2
Important final note: You always have some power. Don’t believe me? Believe Victor Frankl. He said so from a concentration camp.
The boring ol’ materialist’s guide to manifesting
Two.
A thing I didn’t know I would do this week is draw a long-nosed Bono ant. He’s pleased to meet you, even though he’s not exactly sure where you are.
Three.
Protect your energy. Bonus: more energy protection from Little Simz.
This is biggish
Substack, the platform I use to publish TREE, has a brand new app. Hooray! Now you can have a dedicated space on your phone or iPad just for TREE (and any other Substack newsletters you subscribe to). New posts will never get lost in your email filters, stuck in spam or buried in all the boring emails you get. You can zoom into my drawings, Get to Spotify faster, and comment without switching apps. It’s a big upgrade to the TREE experience.
For now, the app is only for Apple devices. You can join the Android waitlist and get more information here.
The Substack app is how I will be reading all my Substack newsletter subscriptions from now on.
Grow slowly
Jeff
I’m joking; there is no such thing as a Ryan Gosling.
What a horrible word. I’m sorry for inventing it.
I've learned that having power doesn't always make you feel powerful and the power you have doesn't even need to look powerful....I was talking to some folk the other day about how you have power if you know the phone number of a plumber, roofer, medical specialist, therapist, etc.... That kind of soft but essential power is easy to pass on to others too. When I hand over a phone number to someone so that they can get the help they need - that's an act of empowerment. Different from if I phoned the person on their behalf - because when I do that I hold on to my power and in fact I take away some of the other persons power. Understand where your power is found and then give it away.....
Eckhart Tolle has said “you may be in prison for life, but your life doesn’t have to be in prison “.
I’m continuously recognizing what I can’t control. How? Because I recognize when I am resistant. That tension and lack of ease and grace get my attention. I don’t like that feeling at all. It’s often my perception of the way I want it to go verses my letting go. For instance, I want to be out boondocking in my rig but twice my heater failed. No bueno in the cold winter desert. Finding someone to repair it then waiting, waiting, waiting for it to be done has been challenging. My attitude while waiting has been really good and then really poor. Resisting what is, doesn’t produce peace. I rely on peace within. So when it goes, I need to step out of the picture and observe. From this point of view I can see better how I could cooperate until the desirable outcome happens. Today, I pick up the fixed heater. Mission accomplished after second fix of heater. Hopefully, I am a little more patient now with the process. And the reward of driving to the next journey spot is a sweet reward. I’m leaving Tucson Monday for higher ground to beat the heat.
Thanks for the Bono ant. He cute. And big thank you for the app! Spotify has been a pain for some reason on my phone. I usually have to use Pandora to listen. So now it’s easy!