My journey to authentic power of the spirit began this week when I was about to get in my van one morning, and discovered that I had a flat tire. I felt anxious when I discovered the tire, and began to think about how I could manipulate events and people to get the tire fixed. But I knew this was using external power, and I don’t make good decisions out of fear. So I summoned my inner calm, or authentic power, and formed a plan to get the tire fixed.
I thought about filling it with air, and seeing if it would hold the air so I could drive it to a repair shop, or asking my neighbour to help me jack up the van and remove the tire. But since it was snowing outside, and cold and wet on the ground, and getting dark, we would have to work outside in harsh conditions.
So I decided to leave the tire repair until the following day. By being patient, I was able to act with love for myself and others.
My son arrived home a few hours later, and said he was off work the next day, and we could remove the tire and get it repaired at the tire shop. We dropped off the tire the next day at the shop, and went for breakfast while they repaired it. Using the authentic power of patience and compassion made the tire repair easy, and we made it fun too, because we had a nice conversation over a meal of spinach salad and eggs while it was being repaired.