If power is defined as the control over resources (especially those important to you), then power is a major satisfaction resource. We all want power to some degree. We all want control over some resources. Not surprisingly, those people having more control over more resources are perceived as having more power. And research seems to suggest that those people with more control over those resources that are important to them have greater levels of satisfaction and happiness.
But power and control over resources can come in many shapes and sizes.
For example, one could have greater self control (control over psychological resources) and be less affected by changes in environmental resources. Take two people waiting for traffic to clear up at a multi-car pile up on the Interstate. One person is anxious, angry and frustrated because he will be late to an appointment. He may even try to skirt around the delay by driving on the shoulder of the road. The other person, on the other hand, takes the delay in stride and uses the time to have a nice conversation with her passenger.
Neither person had much control over environmental resources (although one might have tried). But one person had greater self-control over psychological resources and was able to tap into those resources to either contribute to her satisfaction or counter the negative impact of the event. She also had a secondary resource — her friend.
We all have potential satisfaction and happiness resources we either rarely use or ignore. We also have more power than we realize.
The Psychology of Satisfaction and Happiness 