Are you ready to tap into your true authentic power? That's what The Seat of the Soul author Gary Zukav and Oprah are discussing under the oaks this Sunday on "Super Soul Sunday." Before then, read this blog entry from Gary and get ready to tap into your true potential.

Authentic power is the real deal. You can't inherit it, buy it or win it. You also can't lose it. You don't need to build your body, reputation, wealth or charisma to get it. None of that can help you when it comes to creating authentic power. Anyone can become authentically powerful. Even a rockstar or the president of the United States can become authentically powerful, although just being a rockstar or president is no guarantee of authentic power.
 
The only way to become authentically powerful is to create authentic power. You cannot wish, want or command authentic power into your life, although you can try. Wishing, wanting and commanding don't give you any traction when it comes to creating authentic power. Creating authentic power requires commitment, courage and discipline that far exceed those of a professional athlete or accomplished artist. The skills that athletics and art—or any other profession—require are limited in usefulness to athletics, art or the profession. The skills that are required to create authentic power can be used in every circumstance, every situation, with every person. They are (1) the ability to distinguish within yourself the difference between love and fear, and (2) choosing love all the time, no matter what is happening inside you or outside you.

When the pain of anger, guilt, loss, grief, resentment, fear, jealousy or rage stab, throb, ache and tear at you, that is the time to create authentic power by not acting on it. When chaos, dissolution, dysfunction or violence surround you, that is the time to create authentic power by not reacting to it. You decide what you will say and do, not your internal or external circumstances. You choose to be patient when impatience roars through you, to be silent when you want to shout, to listen when you feel compelled to speak. You choose the healthiest intentions and actions you can reach for, no matter what. Like an accomplished athlete or professional, your performances are dazzling, but only you see them. They are not to manipulate or control others, not to vanquish, gain, impress or win the prize. They are to stand on the ground of your own sanity and humanity, no matter what. This is the real deal. Are you interested?


- Gary Zukav

Watch Oprah's one-on-one interview with Gary this Sunday at 11 a.m. ET/PT on "Super Soul Sunday"! Learn more about Gary's Seat of the Soul Institute at SeatoftheSoul.com

This week, "Super Soul Sunday" is sharing the best of Gary in a three-hour celebration. Get the complete schedule (and a couple of sneak peeks) below.

11 a.m. ET/PT: "Oprah & Gary Zukav: The Essence of The Seat of the Soul
Oprah sits down with Gary and discusses his New York Times bestselling book. Plus, Gary reveals the principle he taught Oprah that still guides her life. Watch a sneak peek.

12 p.m. ET/PT: "Oprah, Gary Zukav & Linda Francis: Spiritual Partnerships"
Join Oprah under the oak trees at her California home as she speaks with author Gary Zukav and his wife, Linda Francis. Their relationship might change the way you think about yours. Watch a sneak peek.

1 p.m. ET/PT: "The Best of The Oprah Show: A Conversation with Gary Zukav"
We delve into The Oprah Show vault for Gary's timeless insights on spirit, compassion and spiritual partnerships.

Right after Oprah's all-new interview with Michael Singer, author of The Untethered Soul, keep feeding your soul with a special The Best of "The Oprah Show" highlighting Gary Zukav's enlightening conversations. Watch it on air or on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWNTV or Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday at 12 p.m. ET/PT.

Before then, look back at some of our favorite "Super Soul Sunday" moments with Gary:

• Oprah and Gary go Soul to Soul
• 3 steps to cultivating your authentic power
• The power of intention

This Sunday, catch an encore of Oprah's interview with Gary Zukav about cultivating your authentic power. Before then, read this message from Gary about why now's the perfect time of year to start creating space in your life for spiritual growth.

Windows are open wide in the spring, carpets hang outside on the line, and the breeze is gentle and warm. It is the best time to rid yourself of unwanted accumulations, vacuum the dust, take down cobwebs and challenge your fears. Anytime new insight replaces an old assumption or a fossilized perception is the spring. New understandings sprout, new tolerances appear, and new curiosity draws you to previously dark places. Just as the sun shines earlier and longer in the spring, changes that seemed impossible appear to be possible with each new insight into your own health.

The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently, or very frequently. It comes each time you recognize a frightened part of your personality as a part of yourself that you were born to challenge and leave behind. It comes when you realize that a painful emotion (such as anger, jealousy, fear or resentment) is not who you are, but a message to pay attention to what you need to change in yourself in order to move into your full potential.

Creating authentic power is continual spring-cleaning. Painful emotions show you what prevents you from creating harmony, cooperation, sharing and reverence for life. What appeared attractive and worth keeping in the dark and cold of the winter becomes unnecessary in the spring, and sometimes very unattractive. Which of your painful emotions—such as anger, jealousy and resentment—now looks unattractive to you? What out-of-control behavior—such as overeating, gambling, shopping, mindless sex or Internet pornography—are candidates for disposal? The more you challenge them by not acting on them while you are experiencing them, the more you free yourself to create the life that is calling you—a life of more joy and less pain, more freedom and less limitation, more love and less fear—and the more you naturally begin to give the gifts that you were born to give.

Love,
Gary

Watch Oprah's one-on-one interview with Gary this Sunday at 11/10c on "Super Soul Sunday"! Learn more about Gary's Seat of the Soul Institute at SeatoftheSoul.com