By Dalton Roberts
True personal power shines through.
I remember our high school nurse, Mrs. Langley. She had those thick glasses that look like the bottom of a Coke bottle. At first glance, looking into her eyes was a little disconcerting, and then you saw the peace and love. Her eyes sparkled with peace, love and joy.
Mrs. Langley brimmed with confidence, happiness, good humor, fearlessness, kindness and thoughtfulness. People wanted to be near her. I would act sick just to spend some time with her. I suspect other students did, too. We wanted to share in the love, knowingness and bliss that shined through those eyes. This is true personal power.
If I hadn’t known Mrs. Langley and others whose eyes shine with this true inner power, I might have thought that personal power was related to a person’s position in society. We all tend to think politics makes a person powerful. A person in politics without this peace, kindness and thoughtfuness will become an affliction to the people.
You cannot develop this true inner power to control others. The very element of control cancels it. It is rooted and grounded in kindness and thoughtfulness toward others and a deep respect for one’s own inner core.
The best book I ever read on that inner core was “Remember Your Essence,” by rock ‘n’ roller Paul Williams, creator of Crawdaddy Magazine. Crawdaddy was the first magazine to focus on rock music, and I was surprised to find such a deep man in such a strange place. I would order the books by the box and give them away as gifts. I would bet it is still available, and anyone waning a treat can Google it.
We are physical beings, but all true power comes from the development of our inner being and living from that center. That’s the reason people like Mrs. Langley stand out forever in our minds. Dr. Andy Holt, former president of the University of Tennessee, had this quality. He was not ashamed to talk about living from the heart, and anytime he came to town I finagled a way to hear him speak.
The Hitlers and Stalins and every politician who lives to flex power and control over people live lives of deep loneliness and are forever despised by the people. Those who find their center and live from it have no interest at all in using their power for anything except their good and the good of those they meet.
I hated school and was expelled in the 10th grade, but one thing I have always remembered was the time Mrs. Langley took to find me. She was the first person in the school system to ever tell me I was creative and to foster that creativity. Going to her “sick bay” healed more than your body. It healed something deep inside.
One thing I have discovered about people with this true inner power is that they do not think about how to use it. Their power is simply their overflowing cup. We are just the recipients of their runoff.
Goodness, peace and joy must be shared, and all we need to do is to cultivate these qualities in our lives. We will then have the only power that matters.
E-mail Dalton Roberts at DownhomeP@aol.com.