We may have been raised with people telling us we are weak, fragile, and powerless. Granted it is hard to feel powerful with parts of our body or mind don’t work right. It takes more of an effort to claim our personal power, but we do have it and need to own it. For a variety of reasons, I grew up with an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. This was painful and did nothing for me. In fact, powerlessness was a self full-filling prophecy, so I failed at everything I did. I got tired of it and wanted a change in my life. I wanted to experience success and claim my personal power. It took years of setting small baby goals, reaching them, and setting more baby goals.
I gave myself permission to grow. Getting involved with Self-Advocacy helped me develop new skills, responsibilities, and relationships. Gradually my self-esteem improved and my personal power increased. Opportunities opened their doors to me and my power increased even more. My personal power has increased considerably as a result of being in Self-Determination. I am happier and more satisfied with my life in a large part due to increasing my power.