Motherly Advice....stop giving away your Power...

 

YOU. Yes. you. You have enormous power.

 

You knew that, right?

 

It's not a bank balance, or the number of cards or paper notes or coins in your wallet.

 

It's the power within you, to create the life you desire, money or not.

 

Hard work and industry are a formidable power.

 

We all have the potential to work hard and be industrious.

 

Do you know the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah?

 

 

Samson was a Nazirite. He took a vow of abstinence from cutting his hair, amongst other things. Whilst he had long tresses, he had enormous physical strength. But once he revealed to Delilah that his long hair was the source of his fearless vigour, leading her to cut his hair whilst he slept, and betraying him to his enemies, he was powerless. Poor Samson.

 

We too, have our 'hair of Samson'.

 

It's our ability to create the life we desire, sometimes with money, alas. It's a modern necessity.

 

But we have huge, huge, HUGE potential to do much with our own hands. That's our 'hair'. Our power.

 

So WHY do we insist on 'cutting our hair' a la Samson and Delilah, by giving that power away?

 

We do, you know.

 

Every single time we interact with someone other than ourselves to get something done, we are giving away our power.

 

Buy takeaway? Yep, a bit of your power gone.

 

Nail salon, hairdresser, gym membership? Power relinquished.

 

Ready made meals from supermarket? Bye-bye power.

 

Have car 'detailed' at expensive Carwash? See ya.

 

Pay someone to bake celebration cakes...yep...power gone walkabout.

 

Buy gifts at the last minute? Ta-ta power.

 

Expecting The Government, The School, The Authorities...to do everything that's needed for a comfortable life, a healthy, educated child, a parent at peace in their latter years. Big mega power...just given away with narry a thought.

 

Pretty soon, you've sacrificed so many Powers, that like Samson without his hair, you are captured, blinded and enslaved, and you don't even realise it.

 

You do realise that this belies the modern day myth of the Superwoman, don't you?

 

Supposedly she can Have It All.

 

Supposedly she can work outside of the home, in the home, raise well balanced humans and lavish attention upon pets, and keep her relationships with partner, friends and family alive and kicking.

 

But this has meant, that in the process, she has given so. many. powers. away.

 

The power to create, to nurture self, to be at peace.

 

Those are mighty, mighty powers to be giving away, good people.

 

Those are the powers that lead to a gentle and contented life.

 

STOP

 

I want to tell you something really, really important.

 

Here it is....

 

The Real Superwoman, KEEPS as many powers as she can.

 

She doesn't give them away willy-nilly. She doesn't leave herself and her family exposed by letting her hair be shorn (also known as becoming a slave to money).

 

She understands that Life is a journey of learning, self discovery, and ultimately, peace and contentment.

 

PEACE AND CONTENTMENT

 

When people talk about paying off the mortgage, they're not really talking about a financial transaction.

 

They're talking about having Peace and Contentment in their frazzled existence.

 

They're talking about finding TIME to do what they really want to do.

 

They don't realise that they could be doing that now, or at least very soon, if they only looked at life differently.

 

They don't realise that they're giving away the one thing they can never get back.

 

TIME.

 

I heard this week on the radio, that 50 years ago, it cost four times your annual income, to buy a house. Now they said, it costs ten times your annual income. That may well be so.

 

But hang on....

 

The house my Mother purchased in 1974 for $12,000, was a two bedroom high set, with a tiny combined bathroom and toilet, an eat in kitchen, a long living room, and a small sleepout, which was another small entry room, most often turned into another bedroom back then. There was no 'laundry', the washing machine sat on a concrete slab under the house. No dryer. We hung our washing on the rotary clothes hoist. No lock up garage, we didn't have a car. We used public transport.

 

My Mother and seven children lived in that house. Happily. We were happy. Really happy. We had a big back yard with fruit trees and a macadamia nut tree, tomatoes, herbs, flowers to cut and give as gifts. Our clothes were clean, we were disciplined well and in a timely fashion, we were expected to contribute and work together.

 

Here's what it did NOT have:

 

Four bedrooms, a study, a gourmet kitchen, a media/TV room, a double lock up garage (presumably housing two newish, probably European cars), 2-3 bathrooms, a swimming pool, a professionally landscaped garden with water features and statues, a paved driveway, a dog kennel and a double storey play castle with cubby house and sandpit.

 

THAT is why houses cost ten times the annual salary.

 

THAT is why we have Mortgage Stress.

 

Nobody wants to start (or finish) small any more.

 

It's a whole new insanity.

 

Giving away your power for a house, for a car, to fit in, to be admired, to be slimmer, healthier, a better person.

 

It has to stop.

 

 

Make your own breakfast parfaits, with home made yoghurt, home baked toasted muesli, and home grown strawberries.

 

Impress people with your beautiful handcrafted gifts. This is a microwave brownie, wrapped in foil squares made for Easter Eggs. You can also do this with home made fudge.

 

Make your own fabulous burgers. I use a tiny meat pattie, sometimes bacon, and lots and lots of vegetables on mine. Utterly delicious and quite famous in our social circle. You too can be 'famous' for your burgers. But not while you're giving that power away to McDonalds, Burger King, Grill'd, or any one of a million other burger specialty stores. Since when was a burger a 'specialty' item?

 

Fill your refrigerator and pantry with home made goodies. I give away a tiny bit of power by purchasing gluten free buns (I just cannot master these but I keep trying) and cheese slices, as well as prepacked fruit tubs for my daughter to take to University. That gives her the power to make and take her own lunch for a small sacrifice, over relinquishing more power to buy it.

 

Make your own simple salads, like my coleslaw. Just shredded cabbage, carrot and cheese. No mayo necessary.

 

Plan ahead and make your own gifts. These water bottles cost me about $13 including the chocolates with which they are filled. They look like a $40 gift.

 

Likewise these dolls. Five dolls from a panel purchased for $5 at Spotlight our local haberdashery.

 

We make our own Iced Tea Syrup. Others make their own Ginger Beer. Find a way to enjoy your favourite tipple by home brewing.

 

Create your own family heirlooms, and display them so they can be appreciated. These silver serving spoons were my Grandmothers. She didn't leave me Handbags and Shoes. She left me memories and well loved kitchenware. She gave me her TIME to skill me for a better life for myself.

 

 

Now I do that for my own granddaughters.

 

Bake your own treats. Fill your families tummy with preservative free, and free up some power in the process.

 

Grow something. That indeed is a power that leads to Peace and Contentment.

 

Teach your children and your grandchildren some life skills. My granddaughter spent an hour cutting up leeks with a plastic knife a little while back. She had a ball.

 

Master the replication of things you love to eat so that your life feels abundant. We love Ricotta cheese. We used to buy it until we realised how easy it is to make. Now we made some whenever we like for mere cents.

 

This bed cost us $50. My daughter loves it. Don't give away your power to buy furniture to impress other people.

 

The Wrap is a new food insanity. Who gives away $10-$15 for someone to wrap a couple of things...not even $1 worth of ingredients, into what is essentially a dry crepe???

 

Make your own filled wrap.

 

It's much yummier.

 

Find new skills to enable you to gift generously. Sewing, painting, mosaic, knitting, crochet, card making, papier mache', cooking, baking, cake decorating, and so on and so forth. They can all be a giftable skill. Learn just one new skill every year. In twenty years, you'll practically be self sufficient in the gift creation area. One of my favourites is my French inspired trimmed pillow cases. If you can sew a straight line, you can make these too.

 

Cake decorating....a power given away if ever there was one. I made this cake for my daughters 18th birthday. She wanted a VW campervan. I didn't know how to do that. But I worked it out. It wasn't perfect, but to her, it was perfection. Does that make sense? I have lots of cake decorating posts. Just enter the words cake decorating into the search box to your left!

 

Hotcakes anyone?

 

Café style treats? You don't have to buy those either. Why is everyone paying $10 for a cuppa and a slice of something. What the absolute heck???

 

Stop. Giving. Away. Your. Power.

 

We CAN be Superwomen, or Supermen.

 

Just not in the way we've been brainwashed to believe.

 

Start being mindful about where you relinquish your powers.

 

You Are Powerful.

 

You'd better believe it.