So, if the power to be one ‘s self is what free will is about, power is potential and not a part of what we see and feel but of our being. And if we are not, then we allow others to use their power over us. I am saying that others do not rule us because they are better, smarter, or richer than us but because we create the vacuum and events that allow them to rule or exercise power over us.
Let me be clear; this is not about what others do to us but what we allow them through circumstances. Examples abound. I need to be born; in the process, my parents have awesome power over my existence. From my beginning at birth, they have power over me, and if I arrive at my new world in reasonably good shape. From this time on, I slowly began to sense and use my own power. I learn this through tears and other means, but I do learn that I have the power to move my parents to action, whether feeding, cleaning, etc. My bodily functions reveal to me that I have power, and my parents and I are educating each other.
As I age, I learn. My education may begin between my mother and her breast. Nor does my education ever cease except when I sleep, and maybe not then. My education expands to family and others, at pre-school, and more. I am inundated with new experiences, and I become more of myself. I sense and may even know of my power and free will. I use both because I may not yet be aware that my power has limitations. It is mine and not me imposing it on others. I must learn this, but many do not, and hence this love and need to exert power over others. My power and free will make for a complex set of problems for me and others in my life. We are each ourselves and who we are driven to be.
