matt89

'Powerless': Devoid of strength or resources; lacking the authority or capacity to act.

- Websters definition... What's yours!?

TiffanyWesley

powerless to me means that I have an allergy to the bodyand obsession of the mind.I have no control and have to admit total defeat. I have to know that drugs will kill me and I can not ever put them in my body again.

free2luv26

To me it means I cannot control myself. If I am powerless over something, it has power over me.

Omnom

I am powerless when using crack cocaine. It takes away my power to be the person that I am and the person that I am to others. I'm taking my power back. I'm powerless over the acts of others who have used me and partyed with me while using crack. I'm powerless over those friendships. I do have the power to correct that and surround myself with different people.

I am temporarily powerless over money. I can not have it in my possession as i don't trust myself enough yet and I may try and satisfy my itch to get high.

scotchbotch

When 'it' has it's grip on me, I'm not good for anybody, including myself. 'It' will control me, my mood, my actions and my choices no matter what.

deadpie

Powerless for me means you become a slave to your addiction. You'll do whatever it takes to get the money to get it or just get it even if you don't have the money. Powerless means you'd die for drugs, not caring one bit. It's being consumed, where you're not there anymore - you're practically staring at the drug itself when you look in the mirror.

I definitely am powerless over drugs and alcohol. I've stolen so much, burnt so much cash, hurt people thanks to my addiction. And the funny thing is when my addiction was at its worst I thought I was in complete control and had extreme power/strength. Only takes rock bottoms, overdoses, jails, institutions, death to prove that wrong.

Admitting I'm powerless over drugs/alcohol doesn't mean I'm powerless over my LIFE though. I can, if I really try hard enough and want to.. Can definitely take control of my life. It's an extremely slow process, but most things don't come easy.

jazzfish

Sorry. I posted before looking at which group this was. I have deleted my original comment.

Gmoney

For me, "powerless" simply means I have "less" power that my mind tells me I have. When I get totally honest I have to admit that there are countless things that I have absolutely no control over. In life there will always be boundaries, limitations and restrictions I'll have to be aware of and respect. Initially (in recovery), powerlessness was easy for me to admit when it came to drugs because the evidence was overwhelming. What was a bit more difficult was admitting and accepting being powerless over people, places or things. That involved a deeper level of honesty. Today I understand that I am powerless over almost everything and accepting this fact keeps me in a state of humility...yet I am grateful to be empowered by my choices.

PS - the dictionary also defines powerless as "lacking authority" or being "ineffective."

neferkamichael

Omnom, took the words right outta my mouth.

Webster's definition is an accurate description of powerlessness when I was on crack, no ifs, and's, or buts about.

rosa84

Powerless: without my higher power, can not do it alone, despite amazing motivators like family kids and friends.

AndyAsh

Powerless to me means that I don't have the ability to control what is in front of me.

I have no power over my addiction, I cannot control it
I have no power over other people, I cannot control them

Anything that I am not able to change/control

SJTChiSox

I cannot control my addiction, when I am using I am killing myself, I must acknowledge I am powerless over my addiction and put recovery first in everything. Being powerless also requires me to turn my will over in order to live.

I cannot fix and control myself, how can I expect to fix and control others? Weird for a Social Worker to say at first. But being unable to "fix and control" does not mean "unable to try to help". Quite the opposite actually. I have to try to help in order to remind myself that I am powerless.

Not trying to toot my own horn, but I get paid to try to help others. How cool is that? I also do it for free often!

Finally, the moment I forget that I am powerless is the moment I start to become spiritually unfit. If that happens then everything falls apart. I don't have to be perfect, but I have to try!

NorthernGirl76

For me to be powerless is to have no control over something that thing being my addiction, my family, people and situations. But I can control myself and that's a lot more than I realized in the past.

Jerome28

To be powerless is to be lacking the ability to effect a desired outcome. There is no ability to accomplish a necessary goal. Being powerless entails being vulnerable or defenseless. To be powerless is to be helpless.

Wholesome

To me it's when I wake up every morning and tell myself that I won't drink today and by the afternoon find myself drinking because I just can't help myself.