True Power

This is just a hypothesis. I think it's correct but I can't be sure. Also it's kind of hard to test. And different people will have different opinions. Anyway here goes: true power is invisible.

If you can see it, it may be a kind of lower quality power, but it's not true power. This is becoming true for the office of the President of the United States. Everyone says the president of the United States is a very very powerful person. That may be true, but they are also out in the open, targets, and there are distinct limits to that person's power. Invisible power on the other hand is more powerful I think. I like to think of it as force vs power. Force is something you can see, display, use and use up. Power is invisible, and the exertion of power is equally invisible. It is difficult to quantify.

Let's take an example of a person who is calm and collected, shows few worries, and clearly proceeds through their day. For the neurotic or anxious person, our calm person might seem naturally gifted. That's their nature, they were born that way, and they're just lucky. That conclusion is probably far from the truth. The calm collected person has probably paid heavily to be calm and collected, but onlookers don't see that payment because it has been paid privately over many months and years. That is the power over oneself.

Another example might be the great new artist. Critics say they exploded onto the scene, they came out of nowhere, they are an overnight sensation. The explosion, the coming out of nowhere, the overnight business is the onlookers problem, not the problem of the artist. The artist has probably been slaving away learning the tools of their craft: playing the notes, combining the harmonies etc. That is the invisible part.

Being discovered is the visible part, and it might include some element of luck. This implies that there are many artists who haven't been discovered, yet hold great power in their craft. This can be seen with painters. Picasso was lucky enough to be discovered while he was still alive, whereas Van Gogh was discovered after his death. Nonetheless both artists worked very hard to consummate their power. Not work was invisible. Most people didn't see it.

Another example can be seen in business. Every once in a while we hear some new name of somebody who has incredible power financially. Before that name became known that person had the power, but it was invisible. This brings up the question how many people have great power right now but are invisible? Of course they might be visible to a select few, but they're not visible to most of us. They are invisible.

Start cultivating your invisible power today. And stay invisible. Theodore Roosevelt put it succinctly: walk softly and carry a big stick. I'd like to add: use it to help people around you.