The Power of People

Unprecedented era

My adopted country, South Africa, enters an unpredented era with the formation of a government of national unity after thirty years of government dominated by a single party.

In the UK, my country of birth, recent polls suggest something of a change tsunami is about to engulf the party that has been in power for 14 years.

In France, an election is underway as I write this – and all indications are that the people are set to mandate sweeping political change.

The world’s most populous country, India, held an election in seven phases during April and May, culminating in the return of the ruling party but with a dramatic reduction in power.

And, perhaps the most talked about election will be held in November, as the USA, so-called leader of the free world, goes to the polls in a rematch of the 2019 election. There, disillusionment with the political landscape appears to be at an all time high amongst the populace.

Collective power

The thing is that, collectively, people wield enormous power to bring about change. Authoritarian governments and dictatorships around the world should be mindful of this. Even the most oppressive regimes will ultimately be toppled if their people become passionate enough about the need for change.

The power of the individual

But, though most people will freely acknowledge the power of the collective, many are quick to play down or ignore the power of the individual and, in particular, the power that exists within them specifically.

Those who read last week’s post will know that I am temporarily living in Bali. As I explained in that post, this is an amazing place for so many reasons, but primarily because of the happiness and friendliness exuded by the locals.

One unfortunate side effect of the burgeoning development and tourism is litter. Discarded plastic bottles and food wrappers line the roads and clog the drains. So, the enthusiasm which local shop owners show for sweeping and tidying their entrances might, at first, seem a little misplaced.

Amisha owns a Balinese coffee shop and, at the back, she operates a small spa. I arrived, one day, in search of a much needed morning cappuccino, to find her busy, sweeping the entrance to her shops and picking up litter to take to the bin.

I sat down and indicated my readiness to place an order. She dropped what she was doing, and greeted me with the customary broad smile and prayer-like gesture.

Choosing to engage in a bit of polite small talk, I told her how impressed I was with her cleaning efforts. Then, displaying a somewhat awkward sense of humour, I asked why she bothered, when the litter continued to build up around the periphery of the shop.

Her answer surprised me.

“I have the power to make a real difference to my own small area and doing so brings me happiness and contentment. The litter outside my property needs a collective effort to tackle and I pray that will come but I don’t lose sleep about it. I focus on what I can do that makes me feel good and when I feel good, my world is good and I can share my happiness with my customers.”

Because it makes me happy

Reflecting, later in the day, on what Amisha said, I was taken back to a beach walk on a beautiful day in Cape Town, many years ago, with my pre-teen daughter.

As is typical in the Cape, the wind had been howling the day before, resulting in a fair amount of litter being blown onto the beach, some of which had got caught up in the piles of seaweed washed up by the high tide.

I bent down to pick up a discarded colddrink bottle and my daughter asked curiously, “What’s the point of bothering with that one Dad, there are so many more that you can’t pick up.”

Without really thinking about it, I answered: “Just because it makes me happy.”

The greatest thing

The greatest thing about individual power is its ability to make us happy.

If we spend our lives thinking that the world around us is in a mess and, as an individual, we are powerless to do anything about it, we not only risk getting anxious and perhaps depressed … we miss the whole point.

Doing something, no matter how seemingly small, can bring happiness within. When we are happy within, the outside world looks and feels like a better, happier place. And then we feel more inclined to focus on everything that’s good about it instead of everything that’s not so good.

And, guess what, that way it keeps getting better!

Transformational life coaching

The essence of New Insights transformational life coaching lies in helping people re-discover and work with their amazing inner power to create greater personal freedom, self-confidence, growth, and happiness.

In this ‘hard edged’, materialistic world in which we are encouraged to put so much focus on others and what they think, the concept of an ‘inner power’ is often played down, ignored or even derided.

A happier life

Yet, it deserves our great respect and nurturing …

For it offers us a simple yet powerful connection to a happier life.