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TAKE
ACTION TO RECLAIM YOUR ENERGY
Taking action on, removing, or minimizing harmful
stresses in your life, as well as adding into your life more of what
nourishes you, will go a long way to restoring your sense of empowerment
and enjoyment of life. (see last month's article, "Making
Room for More," )
Discovering what drains and tires you will uncover
the external factors you can address to minimize or eliminate the negative
impact upon you. Awareness of these factors will allow you to change how
you interact with them.
Pay attention to how you feel around certain people.
Are there people who seem to leave you feeling more tired, listless,
frustrated, angry or fatigued? The first step is to identify who triggers
a response in you that is fatiguing. The next step would be to evaluate
what you can do about it.
Notice how you experience your environment. This
includes the lighting in your home and workplace, the cooling and heating
system, air quality, fabrics, fragrances, cosmetics you wear, and the
other details your body is involved in throughout your day, and into the
night. How comfy is your bed? What are you eating? Do you feel energized
or depleted after a meal. Do you wake up rested?
Observe where your energy goes. Is it tied up in an
incomplete project you have been delaying finishing? Does your energy sink
every time you walk by the faucet that is dripping that you haven't gotten
around to repairing? Is there a nagging memory that haunts you that needs
some attention so you can let it go?
Imagine your energy is like water in a barrel. If
there are holes in the barrel then you will be leaking energy. Every time
you eliminate or minimize one of these energy leaks, you begin to rebuild
your resources.
There are three things you can do to plug up the
holes:
1) CHANGE THE SITUATION.
A client observed that constant phone interruptions
while he was attempting to concentrate was a hole in his barrel. We
designed a solution which entailed letting his calls go to voice mail. He
then set aside an hour a day to return calls, kept them as brief as
possible, and delegated as many calls to his assistant that he did not
need to directly reply to.
Another client of mine found bookkeeping a drain and
so procrastinated on dealing with his accounts until he set himself up for
more stress around tax return time. He has since hired a bookkeeper.
2) CHANGE YOURSELF SO THE SITUATION DOES NOT
NEGATIVELY IMPACT YOU.
Chicago snow plowing can only do a certain level of
clearing with cars parked on the street. I leave a snow shovel in my car
so I can dig myself out if necessary.
My husband snores. I sleep with ear plugs.
How we relate to the issue is the issue. I can
change how I relate to the issue so the situation no longer takes from me.
I have written about this in past articles and I will explore this further
in future issues. See:
Where
You Lead, You Will Follow
When
Life Does What Life Does
No
Matter Where You Go - There You Are
Turning
Complaints to Actions to Results
Energized or
Drained -- You Have the Power
3) YOU CAN LEAVE THE SITUATION. A client of mine has
awakened to the fact that her husband's drinking is a problem. She has
attempted to change how she relates to the situation, and has asked him to
change the situation by recognizing he has a problem and seeking help.
Neither strategy has worked. She has now left the situation. It was her
best choice under the circumstances.
Without the willingness to make changes, we are left
with a sense of helplessness which in itself induces stress. Any
situation, is more tolerable and less stressful when we feel we can do
something about it.
QUOTES
"If you don't like something, change it; if
you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
~ Mary Engelbreit ~
PRACTICALLY SPEAKING
Stress is cumulative. Removing or neutralizing your
largest source of stress will make a significant difference. Once you
begin to fill your barrel back up, you will find the smaller stresses will
be more easily resolved. I encourage you to begin today to do what you can
to deal with, in a self-supporting way, those things in your life that are
no longer serving you.
WONDER
QUESTION:
What would it look like, sound like, feel like to be
operating with a full barrel of energy?
Are you willing to take the steps to regain your
vitality, health, and aliveness?
QUICK LINKS:
COPYRIGHT/CONTACT INFO/REPRINT PERMISSION
Copyright 2007 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com
Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:
Copyright 2007 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design.All rights reserved.
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com
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