Meek is a word you most likely believe to be a bad thing. You have been taught that the strong and fittest survive and thrive. You watch pushy people force themselves into better positions and weaker people get stepped on. Whether within a social circle, a company, or a family, you have been shown it is better to stand up aggressively for what you believe.

Meek doesn’t mean weak. It means being powerful without taking action. It is a strategy you must maintain to achieve the highest level of spiritual success. Meekness is important because not everyone is ready for our power and strength. Sometimes we have to hold back to make the biggest impact. For women trying to get ahead in business, this may seem counterintuitive. We have watched women enter a man’s world and become forced to abandon our values and femininity to get ahead. We have become masculine to prove our worth. We have abandoned balance, joy, and peace to gain more prosperity or respect. For our families, we try to transition quickly to being a nurturer once at home. This effort usually falls short and we end up running our homes like a business forgetting to prioritize love and laughter. Even for women who don’t work outside the home or don’t have families it is a struggle to know when to use our power. We often confuse it with control which eventually backfires.

There is a way to stay in our natural essence, whether feminine or masculine, and use our power differently to massively impact the world. We have to learn to become more strategic about how we live. We cannot always get what we want by being controlling or dominating. We need to learn how to be meek at times. This requires a vision and plan. It requires discipline and self-awareness. You will need to temper your urge to do something right now. It requires massive patience and a belief that life happens for you.

The world is dependent on us learning to be meek. Too many people view women trying to make a change as irrational or ill-equipped to run big companies or our nation. In order to rise up together and unite against all of the injustice, we need to grow together and support one another. We have to better understand interpersonal relationships so we know when and when not, to use our power. Meek isn’t being passive. It isn’t that you aren’t ever speaking up or taking action, you are just waiting for the right time. There are many situations where being meek will help you suffer less. So much conflict in our life is because we use our power too soon and it backfires.

“A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.”
– Gina Carey

For example, your boss just made a major decision with which you disagree. He runs the company, so he is entitled to do whatever he wants regardless of your opinion. You are blown away by his decision and believe it will negatively impact both the culture and success of the organization. You want badly to tell him this and to try and change his mind. Your awareness will tell you this is pointless. You should choose to be meek. Vet out his new decision, accepting it will unfold exactly how it is supposed to even if that means it doesn’t work. You should not complain about it to others or try to make his decision fail because negative thoughts and actions will only impact you negatively and keep you from your truth. Be open to the endless possibilities his deci­sion has created. You cannot get attached to your belief that it is a bad decision. It is simply not a decision you would have made. You must remain supportive and trust if his decision is wrong it will reveal itself over time on its own. We often bring our own drama by trying to sabotage something we don’t agree with making us look bad in the end. Although it might feel good to complain about your boss in the short-term, it is not getting you closer to increased joy or reduced suffering.

As humans, if we ever feel 100 percent right about something it should be an early indicator our Little Voice or ego has been fired up and is ready to lead us down the wrong path. Whether what you felt sure about succeeds or fails doesn’t matter. Life is not black and white and there are a million ways things can turn out. In the prior example, it is something to be celebrated if you refrained from giving your opinion and remained supportive even when you disagreed. Your career may actually improve when you are meek and more patient in how you handle things.

When we try to use our power solely to get what we want we are often seen as controlling bitches. As unfair as it is, we aren’t viewed the same as a powerful man who might be praised for the same behavior. We have to accept this gender bias to ultimately gain ground within our homes, businesses, and in politics. If we use our power more effectively, if we practice being meek and patient, we will have more opportunity.