Before I dive into this month’s column, I have a confession: It’s inspired by a commercial aired during a recent football game. I generally hate commercials and usually ignore them, but a reminder of one of the laws of thermodynamics caught my ears and kept me thinking. This law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
But what does that even mean? I think the best analogy is in gardening and nature. A plant and its planet cohorts put forth a lot of energy to create a seed, and that seed holds that energy safely. When the conditions are right that held energy begins to nudge its way out of the seed and grow towards the sky, nurtured even more by the energy of the sun, rain, soil, etc.
The energy the sun gives to the plant helps them synthesize more food so they can turn that energy into a blossom and new seed. I know this is the most basic way to state a very complicated and miraculous process, so please gardeners and scientists, be kind to me here.
Every cell in the human body is an energy exchange. Every human interaction, every cluttered area of the home, every meal, every dollar spent and received, every barefoot step on the earth, everything has energy.
We often talk about time spent and money invested, but I think it’s also time to include energy in our personal life equation.
Each time you avoid a thing, that heaviness, stress and anxiety don’t just disappear, they can’t. That’s probably why when you do that thing, you often feel a sudden lightness in your shoulders. The energy had been sitting there all along giving you mysterious aches and pains.
For example, a conversation with a toxic coworker that left you exhausted. You gave that person your loving and kind energy, but what did they do with that gift? Your cup was not also filled in return, you were left feeling energetically and emotionally empty.
Or the passing judgments your internal dialog thinks about certain people in your life. Those judgments usually point their energy right back at you and dig deep, festering in your subconscious as low self-esteem and fear.
Maybe you volunteer for an organization whose mission aligns with the core of your soul. Yes, the day of work was hard, but you leave energized. You gave energy, it gave it back, and that rippled out.
This month I am asking myself and you, my faithful reader, to just be aware of the energy you are exchanging. And ask yourself, just as you would when budgeting for a new item or scheduling your day, is it worth it? Let me know what you discover nicole@eloiandstella.com.
