Taking Back Power

I didn't realize I'd given my power away until the inventory asked me to account for it. It happened so gradually. First I stopped voicing my opinions to keep the peace. Then I stopped having opinions. I arranged my schedule around someone else's moods. I made their emergencies my emergencies. I let their behavior dictate whether I had a good day or a bad one.

By the time I reached Al-Anon, I wasn't making decisions about my own life — I was reacting to someone else's. That's not powerlessness. That's surrender to the wrong thing.

Taking back my power didn't mean becoming forceful or aggressive. It meant remembering I had choices. I could set a boundary even if it made someone uncomfortable. I could say no without writing a three-paragraph justification. I could decide how to spend my own evening.

The power was always mine. I just needed to stop handing it to people who never asked for the responsibility.

I can identify one decision I've been deferring to someone else — what to eat, how to spend my time, whether to say yes — and make it myself today. Reclaiming power starts with small, deliberate choices.