Realizing our powerlessness over another person is a good thing. When we keep the focus on ourselves, we face less strife. If I don’t try to manage everyone else’s life, I’ll create more peace in the world by taking care of myself and not everyone else.
I can say what I need, not, “I think you should_____.” I can say things like, “I’d like to talk about what just happened. Would you be willing to put down your book and talk with me?” I could also say, “I wish you’d stop reading your book and make some comment about what just happened.” The later shows less ownership, less self-voice.
Mother Theresa wrote, “Even God cannot fill what is full,” and “We need forgiveness to become empty.”
I am finally becoming emptier. I have less of an agenda. I am able to forgive myself, and thus I am able to forgive others. I have more room for God. There is less me taking up space. I like that. Less me, please.
It’s paradoxical. I focus on taking care of myself instead of trying to fix, manage, and control others. I become emptier by focusing on powerlessness.