Know Your Energy Jump Leads

Alice O’Brien Counselling, Newmarket

What a pain when the battery in your car dies. You have to get the jump leads, find someone who knows what they’re doing and hope that the energy that you need transfers from one battery to another so you can get back on the road. You are temporarily stopped in your tracks until your battery is charged again. And you’re also wondering what depleted your battery in the first place- even though you often have a pretty good idea.

It is not always your car battery that runs out of charge - your own energy can deplete also. Often suddenly, with no warning, you are out of energy, your lust for life depleted, and you find it hard to keep on the road.

It is important for us to know the difference between the energy takers and the energy givers in our life. The energy takers are things like negativity- being around negative people. Situations that cause us a lot of stress- extra work demands, excessive worry or negative and toxic relationships. Our thinking can also be an energy taker- focusing too much on the past, resentment, negative thoughts as well as excessive social comparison. Physical energy takers are things like poor diet- junk food, sedentary lifestyles or too much screen time. All of these things drain our battery and prevent our engine from starting. What about the energy giversthe jump leads if you like? Well

there are plenty of them around if we look for them. Positive social connection, being around people we enjoy. Spending time in nature- my much loved Island Wood in my biggest energy giver. Practicing gratitude, which helps us to see that what we have is enough. Good sleep patterns is a huge energy giver. Exercise and movement as well as exercise for the brain- learning and being curious. The thinking styles that give us energy are positivity, focus and a clear perspective.

So, there will always be times when we go to start our engine and we are met with a deafening silence - no purr of the enginebattery totally flat. But we don’t have to stay that way, get out the jump leads and start again.