Energy, again...

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On one hand we can use our energy freely and abundantly ~ on the other hand it is always a good idea to not waste our energy, and to be careful not to spend more than we have.
To take time and put in some effort to replenish our energy.

So what energy do we feed our own personal energy with? What is the fuel for our vitality? And is any fuel the right fuel to bring our energy level back to where we want it to be?

When we spend a lot of energy, one might think that the right ‘fuel’ is food with lots of calories. After all, calories are what we use to measure energy. On top of that, those are usually the foods that make us feel good as well ~ they are often what we have come to describe as ‘comfort foods’. And as they have this ability to make us feel good, we have a tendency to choose exactly those foods to fuel our energy with.

Unfortunately, those foods often turn out not to be the ‘right fuel’ for our energy ~ for our system. And like when you put the wrong fuel in the tank of your car ~ our systems can run into trouble when we make them run on the ‘wrong fuel’...

What then is the ‘right fuel’?
Well, our own system knows. Sounds funny? But it does.
This means that we ourselves know deep inside ourselves what is best for us. What we really need to keep an abundance of energy and vitality...
Apart from things like sleep, daylight, exercise, meditation, happiness, and laughter, which all help to replenish our energy ~ there is the obvious component of our food; the things we eat and drink. When we choose our food entirely with from the perspective of what is best for us, what is best for our energy ~ we would likely end up with a totally different meal than what we have grown accustomed to over the years...
Research would suggest that when we do that we would eat more salads, less meat, hardly any sugar or otherwise refined foods. In other words, we would eat a meal low on comfort foods...

Yet we don’t have to go with what research suggests...
We could ~ just for once, just to see what happens ~ do our grocery shopping from an intuitive perspective, keeping the thought in mind we only want to buy those things that make us healthiest, just the things that give us most energy and vitality. And with every item you pick up, you sense intuitively whether it just tastes good; or whether it is actually good for you, for your system, for your vitality.

It is a fun experiment that may surprise you!!
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Energy

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Energy is one of those things that can have a lot of applications ~ to the point that the definitions for those applications seem to differ ~ not by that much, but still...
Energy is:

• the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity
• power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources
• in physics the property of matter and radiation that is manifest as a capacity to perform work (such as causing motion or the interaction of molecules)

So, according to the dictionary it is both the strength, vitality and capacity to ‘perform work’ or ‘sustain activity’ ~ it is also the power that gives us that strength and vitality.

Energy, from a more global perspective, is something we feel we need to be careful with. Not waste it. As most of our energy comes in one way or another from nature, we don’t want to take more than nature can replenish. And we also don’t want to get stuck with the sometimes toxic rest-materials of energy production...

Yet how does this interaction work on a personal level?
We are most likely to see our personal energy as:

• a feeling of possessing strength and vitality.
• force or vigor of expression.
• a person's physical and mental powers, typically as applied to a particular task or activity.

In other words, as something we feel is always there; as a part of our personality in a sense.
That leaves the questions where we get our energy from, what we do with it, and finally, what happens when we run out of energy...

Looking at what gives us our energy, the food we eat seems to be the most obvious answer. But food is not the only source of our energy ~ there is also sleep, daylight, exercise, meditation, happiness, laughter... All these things can give us a sense of greater vitality, and therefore can give us energy.

What we do with that energy, that vitality, is entirely up to us! We have total free will choice as to where we spend our energy, and whatever we choose to spend it on ~ even when in hindsight we might say we should have known better ~ is part of our individual path and personal growth.

But when we run out of energy we would be wise to step back from what we were doing and re-evaluate... Energy does have a similarity to money. You can run out of money until your next paycheck. That is like running out of energy and needing a good night sleep. Or you can be out of money and run into dept. When that situation occurs with your energy, recovering is a lot harder.
It often takes time and focus.
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Small Things

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Usually the small things we encounter in life can affect us in a big way. Things like the weather; whether it is too dark, too bright, too hot, too cold, too wet ~ you name it, there is always something about it that makes us pause and wish things were different. Wishing you could get out there when the sun is shining; wishing you didn’t have to get out through the poring rain...

And there are more of those small things that we allow to mark our days.
Like the long line at the supermarket register. The driver who obviously has no clue where he or she is going and who is consequently holding up traffic. A grumpy person in the drugstore. Grabbing the perfect parking place only to find that you can only get out of the car by stepping in a huge puddle. A seasonal vendor who is taking up the entire sidewalk to sell his wares...
The list can go on and on.

Each of those things ~ when observed from a factual perspective ~ is too small to even start talking about; let alone allow us to be bothered about them. And yet, more often than not they do bother us. These small things can make the difference between a ‘good day’ and a ‘bad day’.

The interesting thing is that we also have a tendency to string them together. For instance; while the weather isn’t exactly perfect that day, there is no problem at all until you miss the bus going downtown and have to wait another 12 minutes for the next bus to arrive. When it finally arrives 5 minutes late ~ chances are that a day that started as a regular rainy Autumn day is well on its way to becoming a ‘bad day’. And seeing young children gaining great pleasure from jumping in the middle of the puddles in the park, doesn’t make it any better...
By now, grumpiness has set in.

Do you recognize that? I can be well on my way to total grumpiness before I realize that I am letting my mood ~ and therefore my day ~ be affected by small things that in all reality aren’t worth spending that much time and energy on. Mostly because I have no way of changing them.

They are all small things that are outside of myself, that I in no way can influence...

What I can change is how I react to them.
I can choose to not permit them to affect me. I can choose to not become grumpy because of them. I can choose to smile and join in the pleasure of the kids jumping in the puddles...

Especially when it is about the small things in life we can choose to shrug them off and purposely find a way to see that day as a ‘good day’.
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Public Places

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Public places, especially those public places where there are a lot of people, are always interesting to spend some time at. Without anything specific happening it seems that with every person walking by a whole story is being told...

Looking at the people and how they are moving from one side of the place to another it becomes clear that each person emanates an energy that is uniquely theirs. But they also show a more ‘general’ picture. Common ‘pictures’ are boredom, purpose, sorrow, happiness, relief, haste, relaxation... Yet the list can go on and on...

Just looking at the more ‘common pictures’, there seems to be a vast difference as to how those pictures are taking shape. Sometimes it is literally in the pace the person is walking at. Other times it is more in how they are carrying themselves ~ in whether their weight seems a heavy burden; or is something that is hardly noticed at all... And this doesn’t seem to have any form of relationship with the actual weight of the person ~ a heavy person may walk around as if there is no burden in the world; while a skinny person can look as if the weight of the world is on their shoulders.
There are those that are just staring into space ~ their eyes and minds focussed on sometime, someplace else. They may even be in an entire different galaxy, a different universe...
Almost always there are people waiting. waiting for the next event, waiting until it is time to do something, to be somewhere, to meet someone. For some this seems to give the opportunity for a quiet interlude in a busy day; while for others even waiting comes with a sense of urgency.

Then there are those people who are purposely going about their business ~ and looking at the way they are moving it seems that the one thing that is propelling them forward is their mind as their bodies are experiencing a fairly obvious discomfort...
Sometimes that discomfort seems to be emotional in nature. Other times it is like they are in a situation they don’t want to be in, yet they don’t seem to have a clue as to how to get out of it ~ for whatever the reason. And then there are the purely physical discomforts, for instance of joints that are hurting.
Yet what they all have in common is that they are going about their business without letting their particular discomfort getting the best of them. The message their minds are telling the world ~ even without speaking a word ~ is “I can do this! I may need some help every once in a while, but this I can do!”.

And that deserves a lot of respect!
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More than the sum of the parts ~ part two

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The same way our lives and everything we experience living it is more than the sum of the parts ~ so too are we ourselves. We are much more than heart and lungs, digestive tract, arms, legs and brain, to name a few of the parts. We are also mind on all of its levels, and awareness. We are spiritual beings ~ even when we don’t spend a lot of time in our daily routines on ‘spiritual things’. We have an energy field around us that can show those who are attuned to see it the most beautiful colors that are part of our make up. And we have a soul. That unique and never-ending part of us.
And each of these parts interacts with all the other parts, weaving patterns that reflect our balance, our well being.

The more all of us is working toward the same goal, the same sense of balance or (inner) peace, we feel ‘on top of the world’, and in some sense, larger than life!

But what happens if we have an inner desire to accomplish something ~ let’s say something we chose to accomplish before we even were born ~ and for whatever the reason the inner dialogue, our inner thinking, keeps insisting that this is something we will never achieve? Because we don’t have the right education, don’t have the position, the skills, the abilities; or perhaps just don’t feel like taking the risk...

All of a sudden unexpected things can happen in our systems, our bodies.
At first it may just be the realization that something isn’t right, a slight sense of friction or stress. Then a sense of discontent might develop ~ a discontent not just because this thing we feel we are unable to do, but often a discontent about our lives or even the world. Eventually, that which started as a relatively small discrepancy within ourselves, may find a physical outlet ~ leaving us to experience  some kind of physical discomfort.

I have found that it is one of the hardest things to do in a situation like that ~ is to step back from it, to observe what is going on, and to see what it is in myself I can change to move toward wholeness again... What that step is, is unique to each individual. For me it has often to do with having faith in myself and my abilities.
Yet there are three things that are always true when something like this happens:
It is not our fault that it happens!
We have no reason to feel guilty about it.
We can do something about it by changing our attitudes and perspectives about ourselves or the world around us.

This means we don’t even have to come up with a solution to the original problem, as long as we find a way to restore our balance and our sense of inner peace, we can re-create ourselves into that being that not only is larger than the sum of the parts, but also feels larger than life itself!!
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