Carlos certainly seemed powerless. Two armed men had invaded his home. He had no weapon. He had no avenue of escape. He had a terrified six-year-old girl in tow.

Oh yeah … and Carlos was seven.

But the California youngster simply did what the Stoic philosopher Epictetus advised in the first century. “Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”

He grabbed a phone and his little sister, hid in the bathroom, and called 911. By the time the gunmen—who’d broken in and threatened to kill their parents—found the children, police were on their way. When the home invaders realized Carlos had called for help, they fled.

No matter how helpless we feel in these insecure times, each of us has at least one base of power we can tap to assist us in overcoming our obstacles. Consider these:

• The power of knowledge. This is the type power young Carlos wielded. A small child was no match for two armed gunmen. But his mother had practiced with him daily the drill of calling 911 in an emergency. He knew what to do and how to remain calm and informative. You may not recognize your skills, experience, and knowledge as powerful assets … but they are.

• The power of people. Grabbing the phone wouldn’t have done Carlos any good if there hadn’t been someone to call. When things are going downhill, we sometimes tend to withdraw, to isolate ourselves. We should be doing the opposite. Now is the time to strengthen ties with your network, to make special efforts to reconnect with your friends. You can’t do everything alone—and why would you want to?

• The power of love. Most of us have others in our lives whose well-being matters even more to us than our own. Carlos didn’t allow himself to give up and start crying as many children would because the strangers were threatening his parents and he knew he had to help them. Even if you don’t have people who directly depend on you, perhaps you are a role model. Or you may have relatives or friends who’ll need your help in situations that haven’t yet surfaced. Let the love you feel for others inspire you to keep going when it seems pointless.

• The power of one. Like the brave seven-year-old, only we can choose how to make best use of what’s in our power. No matter how much chaos is swirling in the world around us, we each still have the power to direct our own lives.