Conserve Your Own Fuel

Everyone I know works really hard. Everyone I know has an incredibly busy life. Some people are hard wired for it - they feel the best when they are constantly out and about, socializing or working. They feel on top of their game when things are constantly moving forward and changing. These people thrive in places like NYC.

But others face physical and mental challenges that often prevent them from enjoying the busyness of the city. These people will be the ones that begin to show up just for work, stop working out, stop socializing or dating, are desperately just trying to get through the work week so they can crash on the weekend. Their physical symptoms appear and are diagnosed as fatigue, depression, food cravings (not the good kind!), moodiness, pms, digestive disturbances, insomnia, anxiety, infertility.

The truth is we only have as much pizzazz as we cultivate. You can't make something out of nothing people! So how do we change things? How do we work as hard as is required and still have time to enjoy our lives?

This is a great question and it has to do with qi conservation. I heard the same concept talked about recently when I heard the phrase, "Eat what you burn, spend what you earn." What a novel idea! But why is it so difficult? Because we are a nation out of balance...we eat more than we burn, we spend more than we earn and we try to accomplish more than we have fuel for and then we wonder why we have poor health.

At the beginning of the day - assess how you feel. How much juice do I have today? Then behave in conjunction with that. Offer a little less at work or a little more. Leave at the end of your day or stay late depending on your energy. Be responsible about creating the drive you need. (A little tip to the wise is that exercise actually creates more energy.) If you need to rest, rest. If you are low on endurance, watch out for these energy drains:

Drama - there is always human drama to engage in. But if your "get up and go" is low you can't afford it! Have proper boundaries with your co-workers and mind your own business! I used to work with this guy and he'd always say, "My name's Bennet and I ain't in it." Or another one, "My name's Paul and that's between y'all!" Its so hilarious and it works!

Gossip - Gossip is like refined sugar - it feels so good while you are doing it but it has a crash afterwards. Violating your conscience is also an energy drain.

Procrastination - It takes less energy to actually do something than it takes to put it off, suffer the nagging silent guilt and manufacture of self-hatred in the mean time. This is the silent energy sucker you need to stay away from.

Envy - try not to compare yourself to others. It is never fruitful or accurate. Everyone has challenges, even if they are not evident. Don't compare your insides to someone else's outsides.

Eat what you burn - overeating will suck your energy because your digestion is constantly trying to catch up, your mind is punishing you for "doing it again", and then you compare yourself to the skinny people who work out and then you hate yourself - all huge energy drains.

Spend what you earn - overspending probably causes the most insomnia across the United States than anything else. Spending within your means will relieve so much tension in your life you won't believe it.

All of these energy drains cause qi to become stuck in your body. When your qi is stuck it is not supplying your body with the fuel it needs to do its work in this world, whatever that may be. I will leave you with this fantastic quote by Thomas Jefferson:

"Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits."