Power Is Granted

Power doesn’t reside within people. Instead, it is granted by individuals or groups who allow another person or group to exert influence over them. For example, a friend of mine invited his parents to stay with him and his wife for the weekend. His parents had planned on leaving Monday, but come Monday morning, they announced that they would stay through the end of the week. My friend accepted their decision, even though he could have insisted that they leave at the originally agreed-upon time. In doing so, he granted his parents the power to decide their departure date without his input.