Food For Thought

Balancing “Good Energy” for Yourself and for Others ...

We don’t deserve anything “extra” for the good we do when we do it - doing good or
being loving has its own rewards for you and for everyone else. However, you can only do as
much as you can do. Even if you could do more, there would always be someone you couldn’t do enough for and their feelings would eventually be hurt. Regardless of who is right - it doesn’t change anything about our experiences together...

We only have a limited number of hours during the day, weeks and years to spend on
things that are most important to us. Life takes up so much time just to survive. When you spend time giving to others it feels great! But there are times when you have to do what is right for YOU and give to yourself FIRST. If you don’t feel “happy”or have energy to give fully, it is hard to bring that to everyone because you simply don’t have it to share (You can’t give to someone else something that you don’t have).

This doesn’t mean, however, that we have an excuse to do something that is needed only when we feel our best. Sometimes finding the right balance of energy input and output can be difficult. We all need to give energy to many things - our passions, our marriage, our family, our in-laws, our work, our friends and with the world in general.

Whew! That requires quite an amount to share! But knowing this doesn’t help anything - it’s in the doing that counts. The only thing you can do is to give as much as you can to others until you feel it is time to “regroup” and to give energy back to yourself. Without trying to be too neglectful of others, take as much time as possible to regain energy (even in small amounts each day) and this will allow you to feel good, recharged and be coming from a genuine place where you can share energy freely with others.

If you are having difficulty with giving and you don’t stop, rest, regroup, and give to
yourself, you will in time become angry, resentful, hurt and empty, and this is extremely harmful to your health as it will lead you to emotional instability and burnout. You know this from your own experience with life, although you might not think about it in this way, emotionally you may feel it. This experience is frustrating especially for “givers” because we always want to be in a place where we are feeling good and sharing that with others (and having others return that energy) - That is love!

Regardless of what the others might say - Your Love, Life and Energy does come FIRST
- first from you, and then to someone else. This is the only “life” you have. You can “get” energy from others, but the place it ultimately comes from is giving it to yourself. While taking care of yourself you may not live up to what everybody needs, wants or expects and this can cause a power struggle. If you are on the “receiving end”and you’re feeling hurt or neglected just remember it doesn’t mean a person cares less or doesn’t love you or want for you - you are a very important part of their life. It just means that sometimes they may have to do what is best for them, so that they can be at their best to give to you.

When the one you love gives too much out of obligation, or to protect your feelings, at the cost of hurting their own, over time this only causes everyone harm and is not loving. When people in a relationship have a need (unless it’s a life or death situation or an illness) one person’s need is not more important than another’s. Sometimes your needs will be met and sometimes you will need to take care of the needs of others. While finding time to balance energy things won’t always work out exactly the way we all want them too, but such is life!

I hope that this has helped you to remember what “we” are all up to...Creating goodness for the good of ourselves, for the people we love and for our world. Just make sure your “energy tank” isn’t on E while moving full speed ahead! See you soon!!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT