Is your emotional energy high enough?
by Mira and Charles on September 8th, 2009Labor Day has gone, and for most of us this is a time of new beginnings, a time of hope. But for some of us the trumpet is sounding and yet we can’t seem to answer the call. We should feel raring to go, but we’re not. We’re just not feeling the emotional energy we wish we did. And that not only feels bad. It’s a real problem.
The good news is that you can get more emotional energy. But what is emotional energy anyway, and how do you get more of it?
Emotional energy is the opposite of depression, but it’s a lot more than just “not unhappy.” It’s a lot more than “happy,” for that matter. You have emotional energy when you feel UP for your life—hopeful, positive, engaged, charitable, caring, patient, focused, loving. It’s a measure of how ready, willing, and able you are to LIVE—to take on challenges, to fight for what’s important to you, to work to make your dreams come true, to care for loved ones, to build a better future, to enjoy life to the fullest in the present. When you life feels good and yet you still want to make it better.
Most of what we call energy is really emotional energy. Our research here showed that only about 30 percent of our energy is physical. The rest is emotional. That is, only 30 percent of the energy necessary for living life to the fullest comes from physical sources like rest, diet, exercise, and good health. Seventy percent of total energy comes from nonphysical sources, what we call emotional energy.
Look at world-class marathon runners near the end of the race. They are all in amazing physical shape. They all started the race with huge endowments of physical energy. It’s emotional energy that gives the winner the extra oomph he or she needs to come in first.
But the thing is, we’re all marathon runners. We all face enormous challenges and we all need to go the distance and we all sometimes wonder if we have what it takes to finish. That’s normal.
What’s not normal, and not acceptable, is when your emotional energy is below what you need and want it to be. And what’s that? How can you tell if your emotional energy is low for you?
There are three dimensions that are crucial: You have good emotional energy when you feel (1) hopeful, (2) engaged, and (3) feeling like you have a lot to give. Here’s the test:
1. We all get discouraged from time to time, but most of the time, and when you need it most, do you usually feel hopeful?
2. We all feel lost and uninspired at times, but mostly do you know what you want and are going for it?
3. It’s normal to feel we need to take care of ourselves and occasionally feel we’re running on empty, but do you most generally, and with the people you care about most, feel you have a lot to give?
If you can’t answer with a strong, solid YES to all of the above questions, then your emotional energy is low. You need more. The lack of emotional energy is affecting your life, probably more than you realize. (There is a more detailed quiz on our website here.)
So what do you do about it? There’s a lot you can do. We’ll make some important suggestions next time. But for the whole story, please check out The Emotional Energy Factor. When it came out it was a finalist for the national Books for a Better Life award, which is like being nominated for the Oscar for best picture. In it, you’ll find all the help and understanding you could want.
And there will be more help here in our next blog posting.
