Dichotomy, rhetoric, evaluation and empowerment (part 4)

Empowerment is the ability to take personal agency.

This is what living life fully is all about. I was reading a paper in an analytic philosophy journal, and the researcher made a distinction between two forms of empowerment.

Hypoagency and hyperagency.

Hypoagency means that anything bad that happens to us isn’t our fault. It was society, or culture, or some outside influence that made us do it.

Hyperagency means that everything bad that happens to me is directly my own fault. I’m confident in my ability to shape circumstances, and my tendency is to attribute outcomes solely to actions and capabilities.

Now, there’s a time and place for both. Extremes in anything accomplish nothing. Striking a balance between these extremes is important for a realistic understanding of empowerment and the ability to navigate life’s challenges effectively.

The question I try to ask myself is this.

Will my fear of this legitimately protect me from harm, or merely inhibit me from living fully?

Key language in that one is living fully. Because there will always be legitimate safety concerns.

Like my reasonable fear of participating in an ultramarathon. Those insane, masochistic races for held in the middle of the desert, with over thirteen thousand feet of overall ascent, spread out over three mountain ranges, with an average temperature of a hundred and thirty degrees?

Fearing that protects me from certain death. I guarantee that I am not living my life any less fully because I didn’t spend seventy consecutive hours punishing myself.

On the other hand, there’s a difference between genuine protection, and limiting our experiences and opportunities for personal growth.

Ultimately, let’s review our tool for freeing ourselves from fear.

The four elements are dichotomy, rhetoric, evaluation and empowerment.

The combination of these elements within the framework encourages us to break free from fear’s constraints, make informed choices, and live life more fully.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go sanitize my grocery bags.

What if the only way to achieve your full potential was by taking action in spite of fear?