We Are Never Powerless
One of the more famous, and disturbing, experiments in psychology focuses on the concept of “learned helplessness.” Very long story short, researchers found that under certain circumstances they could “teach” dogs there was nothing they could do to avoid an electrical shock. The poor dogs would sit helplessly, being shocked even when they could avoid it, because they had learned to accept that they were helpless.
Many people seem to have also learned this lesson. At home, at the office, around town, and even in leadership circles, the general notion of “there’s nothing I can do” seems to take root - and it’s absolutely false.
We are never powerless, unless we choose to be.
No matter where we are, what circumstances we are in, we always have the power to change our situations. We can:
Quit a toxic job
Find a low stress job
Trim expenses
Reduce time spent with challenging individuals
Remind ourselves that another’s perceptions don’t define who we are
Get outside help or support
Talk to people, even just friends
Leave or move
Advocate, for yourself or others
Get active - a management group, consultation board, community group, school board, or a thousand other types of organizations which may help with whatever is challenging you
Learn - about yourself, policies, conditions, educational opportunities, you name it
Challenge those “There’s nothing I can do” thoughts
And this is just the start. The fact is that we always have power - we always have self-agency - even when it may feel like we don’t. There may even be a “researcher” in some form trying to “teach” us that we’re helpless. In those cases we need to have the wisdom to see through the experiment, and the strength to throw off the harness.
The path ahead of us may become more difficult, or more complicated, than we initially imagined. The tide may wash away the ground beneath us. We may have to struggle through the current, get soaked a bit, maybe even hit against a rock or two along the way, but we are always in command of where we choose to go and how we choose to do it. If we forget this, we trap ourselves.
We are never powerless observers to our own lives.
