How well do you spend your energy?
Energy, alongside time, is our scarcest asset. It depletes every single day. So it is crucial to be very keen on how we spend our energy. Whereas there are different types of energy, here we talk about mental energy. That sometimes — if in abundance — gives you the feeling that you can take on the world, but also that energy that — when depleted — can make you feel stressed and even depressed.
Many of us unconsciously waste energy on energy draining activities. For example, we do work we don’t like (we come home more exhausted than when we arrived at work), or we spend our time with people we actually not prefer to be with (we need to pretend, put on this social mask).
However, most of our energy is continuously drained by our thoughts, our mind machine generating thoughts we need to process, contemplate, judge, and doing something with. It starts running when we wake up, and it doesn’t stop until we finally sleep. That’s a lot of work besides all other responsibilities we already have given ourselves.
Often people spend their thoughts on judging other people. Why he did (not) do or say this and that to me, and why she was doing better (or worse) compared with me. We are generally unaware that such thoughts about others originate from within ourselves.
For example, when we seek confirmation or appreciation — at work or from a loved one, we tend to be very disappointed when we have done something to reasonably expect a compliment — complete a project succesfully, or cleaned the house unasked for. Nevertheless, when we do not get this well needed compliment, we often blame the other for not being appreciative, instead of self reflect why it is that we are longing for this appreciation in the first place. While not self reflecting, we get stuck in this energy draining vicious cycle of seeking this increasing need for appreciation from others, while not giving attention and energy to the cause of this need. As a result, you waste energy every moment when not reflecting upon yourself.
It is very tempting to focus on others, since it is not only the path of least resistance, it also gives an ideal channel to vent emotions. Which then will also drain energy, since the other will eventually not solve the issue you are actually dealing with (unconsciously).
The good news: you can divert your energy every moment. Now already, while reading this. You can continue to spend energy on others, or you could take a minute (only a minute can make a difference) to reflect upon why you are bothered or occupoied with it and/or have judging thoughts. The answer and solution lie within yourself.
We wish for you to stop wasting your energy and saving it for the activities with which you can truly make a difference for yourself and others.
Enjoy the exploration! 😊
