I embrace my natural power. I feel no need to force anything.

Anyone who has split logs badly has learned this the hard way. Swing harder and the axe bounces off. Let the weight of the head drop into a crack the wood already has, and the log opens with almost nothing asked of the person holding the handle.

Most forcing is a sign that something upstream is wrong — the wrong tool, the wrong moment, the wrong person to be asking. Effort applied to the actual obstacle rarely feels like straining. It feels like work, which is a different sensation entirely.

Natural power is quieter than it sounds. Mostly it is knowing where the wood was already going to come apart.