Empower

3 : to promote the self-actualization or influence of


This definition is from http://www.m-w.com/. I like the word empower. I have a friend who recently used it most aptly and got me to thinking. She said that she made a trip from North Carolina to Louisiana without her husband, but with her four children. She said it was empowering.


My first thought was my own experience back a year ago when Mike and I took Goldie and Josiah to Idaho/Utah and then he went home to work for a couple of weeks while I stayed on to visit friends and family. By the end of those two weeks I was going nuts. I had been trying to potty train Goldie and gave up. I had a six month old baby who I was breastfeeding.


Then when I got back we had a few very short weeks in our home until it was sold. Then we spent a few weeks in Roan Mountain and few weeks at my Mother-in-law's house before purchasing and moving into the home where we are now.


The way I looked at that experience most of the time is, "Boy I don't ever want to go through that again." But after hearing my friend Christie's comment I started wondering, What has been empowering about my experience? I realized if I choose to let be, there was empowerment. But it was all in how I chose to view each of the experiences.

Anyway, I do like the word and hope I can have empowering experience often!