There’s only one true authority in your life, and it’s you. You make the decisions. You take the actions. If you’re looking to some external authority figure, leader, or guru to tell you how to live your life, you’re looking in the wrong place. That leader is you. Whether you fell ready or not, you’re in command.
Despite what you may have been conditioned to believe, there’s no higher authority in this life than you—not your parents, your boss, or your favorite supreme being. If you think anyone else has authority over you, it’s only because you yield your authority by choice. Sometimes the consequences of not doing so are so severe that you may feel as if you have no choice, but in truth you always do. Even when threatened with suffering or death, you remain the commander of your own life. Some of your choices may be extremely limited, but they’re always yours to make.
True command doesn’t imply the unbridled exercise of power. An intelligent commander does not bark random orders and expect them to be blindly obeyed. Command must be rooted in truth and based on an accurate assessment of the situation. You’re the one who perceives your reality, and you must decide how to act (or not act) based on your perceptions. How you deal with that information is up to you, and life awaits your orders. You may feel well prepared, or you may feel unready, but the burden of command is yours no matter what.
If you fail to claim authority over your own life, someone else will surely claim it for you. Many people allow their spouse, parents, or boss to practically run their lives. This practice pulls you out of alignment with truth and power and drops you into a lower state of consciousness. You become increasingly helpless as you distance yourself from your true nature. You are meant to be free.
Look around you and notice the results you’re currently getting. Life is simply obeying your commands. If you want different results, you must issue different orders. You’re the only one qualified to make these decisions. No one else can fill the role of commander of your life but you.
* Source: Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina