We all face hardships at some point in our lives. It's an absolute certainty. How we deal with these hardships defines who we are. Some of us own up to the responsibility and get on with our lives, while the rest of us cop out by blaming others. When you take ownership of responsibility, you empower yourself. You realize you are the cause and your life experiences are the results.  You determine the direction of your life and make changes when necessary. You are in control of your life, your life doesn't control you.

If you are not able to explain why your life is as it is, you are giving your power away to someone else. Most of us tend to blame someone else or something else for our fate and all the bad experiences in our life (such as abusive childhood, loss of a loved one or broken relationships). When you are not in control of yourself or your life - you are powerless.  The "blame game" you are playing is a very disempowering emotion and will get you nowhere. 

If you think by blaming others you can escape from your problems, you are completely wrong and you are behaving like a spoiled child. If you give others the power to control you, your decisions and your life, your life problems will stay the way they are until you take back power and claim full responsibility for your emotions, actions and your life as a whole.

True empowerment is taking responsibility for your life so that you are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and be anything you choose to be.

Here are 4 tips to empower you:

1) Make your own choices - Life is full of choices and you have the incredible freedom to choose. You learn only through trial and error. Be bold and accept the outcome of your decisions. If your choice is correct, be happy. If not, don't blame yourself or others. Instead, analyze where you went wrong and correct yourself. I've made mistakes and so will you. The next time around, make a better choice.

2) Practice deep breathing - If you make it a habit to practice deep breathing throughout the day, you will have more clarity in your thoughts. Your body will feel more relaxed to think clearly and make good judgments in your situations.

3) Feel grateful - Gratitude is something we hardly ever take notice of for many of the things we enjoy in life. Instead of cursing your problems, look around you and realize how blessed you are to have nature bestow you good health, sunshine, food, good relationships, fresh air, etc. When you start to feel grateful for these things, you'll be more convinced that life isn't bad at all. It's empowering when you can feel this throughout your body and soul.

4) Develop mental awareness - Observe your thoughts. Are they good or bad? Are they positive or negative? If your thoughts are positive it is good. You can act on them with positive results. What if you have negative thoughts? You can only control negative thoughts if you are aware of them. Don't let these negative thoughts spiral out of control. Diffuse them immediately. Empower yourself by being aware of your good and bad thoughts.

When you can deal with your own pain and pleasure, you are the controller of your life. Don't let anyone else take away your power to control your life and events. You are the master of your destiny.

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