Many years ago during my karaoke obsession, I remember being on stage and failing to sing the opening words to the song 'Sound of Silence'. As you can imagine, my friends heckled me from the audience, chanting "sounds of silence all right!".
Conversely, despite this poor attempt at singing, can I share with you another occasion, when my words of silence actually did empower me ...
During a school holidays visit to the bowling alley, our lane was finally ready and my name was called. As my children and I approached our lane, we noticed the family next to us refused to make room. Their possessions remained on our side of the seats.
This was disappointing - I came to the bowling alley for FUN. Not for a confrontation, nor to deal with somebody else's bad attitude. Luckily for me, I was in a calm and humble mood.
In that moment I could have chosen to engage in an argument with the other mother, or as fate would have it, I could simply 'just be'.
I managed to tap into my intuition, my gut instinct, or my soul. And, in this moment I decided my point of power was to do nothing at all. My daughters questioned the other people's belongings remaining in our seats, I instructed them to sit down where there was room. The mother clearly wanted an argument, and in this instant I knew not to engage. My power was to be indifferent to her challenges, and to proceed to bowl our game anyway.
Low and behold, there was a lesson to teach my children, as strange as it seemed. As a result of my silence, the other mother not only moved her bag and shoes from our side to hers, but she also started to talk to and befriend me. I remained polite yet indifferent, and quietly amused.
My intuition proved to be spot on, my silence proved to be a powerful force. More powerful than words or conflict.
So remember to add this lesson to your point of power - when sometimes, all that needs to be said is absolutely nothing at all.
Conversely, despite this poor attempt at singing, can I share with you another occasion, when my words of silence actually did empower me ...
During a school holidays visit to the bowling alley, our lane was finally ready and my name was called. As my children and I approached our lane, we noticed the family next to us refused to make room. Their possessions remained on our side of the seats.
This was disappointing - I came to the bowling alley for FUN. Not for a confrontation, nor to deal with somebody else's bad attitude. Luckily for me, I was in a calm and humble mood.
In that moment I could have chosen to engage in an argument with the other mother, or as fate would have it, I could simply 'just be'.
I managed to tap into my intuition, my gut instinct, or my soul. And, in this moment I decided my point of power was to do nothing at all. My daughters questioned the other people's belongings remaining in our seats, I instructed them to sit down where there was room. The mother clearly wanted an argument, and in this instant I knew not to engage. My power was to be indifferent to her challenges, and to proceed to bowl our game anyway.
Low and behold, there was a lesson to teach my children, as strange as it seemed. As a result of my silence, the other mother not only moved her bag and shoes from our side to hers, but she also started to talk to and befriend me. I remained polite yet indifferent, and quietly amused.
My intuition proved to be spot on, my silence proved to be a powerful force. More powerful than words or conflict.
So remember to add this lesson to your point of power - when sometimes, all that needs to be said is absolutely nothing at all.