As I walk into the living room, CeCe is in her chair, scanning Facebook or shopping on her phone and my entry goes pretty much unnoticed. Well, let’s be transparent — totally unnoticed. I admit, it’s a real downer as I was hoping that my arrival might peak the slightest bit of excitement, joy, happy greeting or at least an expression of curiosity. Don’t we all look for that recognition and acceptance from our close family and friends?
Settling into my chair beside CeCe while fighting back my disappointment, I engage with a voice of faked concern, “How was your day?” As I let the words go, I can sense a big response coming.
“Actually, I just sat down right before you came in. I have been rushed and busy from the moment my feet hit the floor until right now. I rushed out for groceries for Aunt Kate and Happy (Her Mom) (who she is the primary caregiver for both), squeezed in a workout, worked on the flower beds, reorganized the storage room, picked up from the pharmacy, bathed Oliver (our new Yorkie) and I don’t know what else. I have not stopped even for lunch. I snacked on some crackers and frankly, I am completely out of energy. I’m exhausted!”
Now I know for sure there’s not going to be any real excitement or fun around dinner tonight. I also realize that too often, I find myself just like CeCe — rushed all day, out of control and completely exhausted before I even get to dinner.
Yet, we control so much around our energy supply and there are ways for us to manage our energy during the day so that not only do we avoid frequent exhaustion, we can actually generate more energy to give others. Some things I have learned about managing my energy include:
- As an introvert, I gain energy with quiet time. Extroverts restore energy with social interactions.
- We can approach a more energized day with a better plan of prioritizing breaks after periods of focused activity. Ten minutes of quiet time or ten minutes of social visiting can restore a lot of energy for our next task.
- If I start my day with some quiet time, prayer and physical exercise, I expand my energy capacity for the day.
- We rest better at night when we end our day slowly and turn off the phone or computer at least an hour before bedtime.
- Our energy goes up when we express our gratitude and making this a daily habit helps us restore energy.
- We get energy when we measure our progress on our priorities and if we are close to our goal, try noticing if your energy rises even more as you measure how much further we have to go until mission accomplished.
- Make time for lunch and a break. Regardless of how busy we are, a lunch break makes us better, gives us higher energy, and restores our ability to be creative with any challenges we face.
We only have so much energy and it’s easy to run out of gas if we don’t stop and fill up regularly. Let’s work together to manage our energy so we can #beEvenBetter. CeCe, I’m home!
