Do You Know When You Are Overdoing It?
To come to know what is actually working for you often means noticing what is not.
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In the middle of this holiday season where it is so very easy to get depleted because we are over-doing and over-giving, we often overlook the fact we are actually taking away from ourselves and mismanaging our energy by spreading ourselves way too thin. Stealing from the vital well of deep energy reserves we depend upon to be balanced, clear and well, leaves many of us having less than “a most wonderful time of year” as we experience greater levels of debt, anxiety, depression and overwhelm.
To remedy this is to shift away from participating in the overdoing. For instance, how often do you needlessly deplete your energy, believing that how much you do or buy for another, shows much you care about those you love? Doing this not only drains you, it lends a transactional feel to your relationships where your closeness is based on what has been purchased.
What if instead, you chose to develop a relationship with your energy that feeds and honors its preciousness? From that way of being, you fill yourself first while also paying tribute to an authentic relationship because you are giving from a place of fullness. This kind commitment says, “I will take care of my energy because that is how important it is in my life and in the life of all my relationships for my energy to be well cared for.” And if you doubt the importance of this for yourself and others, tune in to the last time you didn’t have the energy you needed to feel well, be patient, or care, and how hard your life became.
How do we begin to make a shift like this? When we start noticing all the little choices we are making as we move through our days, we begin paying attention moment to moment to how we feel about each choice.
This might sound like a lot to do, until you realize that you can break it down into one simple but profound question: Is this choice giving me energy or taking from my energy?
When you begin to use this wondering as a way to navigate through your day, you notice how every choice impacts your sense of aliveness and vitality: as you eat, do your errands, cook, watch something on the screen, converse with someone, talk to yourself, plus all of the other things you do as a matter of course throughout a day.
Every single choice you make carries with it the power of feeling more energized or more depleted. By simply paying attention to your energy levels in response to those choices, you are given a map for navigating an often draining array of options we face daily. These choices can easily be dressed up as something vital we need or want, such as overspending on gifts or overdoing holiday sugar, when actually the opposite is true. Sugar leads to weight gain and craving more sugar, while overspending leaves us anxious and in debt.
To come to know what is actually working for you often means noticing what is not. It means taking stock, without judgment, after a choice has been made to see whether you feel better for it or worse. Just by noting whether you feel filled or depleted, you can use this vital information to shed some light on your tendencies to overdo. If you notice what you have chosen depletes your life-giving energy, you can make a different choice next time that option is presented, and instead, seek out more of what recharges you. The choice is all yours.
Susan McNamara is a woman who cares deeply about how we are living and how it is that we treat ourselves, each other, and the planet. She is the founder of The Healer Within: A Unique Online Health & Healing Community for Women, which begins its next cycle January 25, 2024, and the author of the book, Trusting Your Body: The Embodied Journey of Claiming Sacred Responsibility for Your Health & Well-Being. She can be reached at RememberingWhatMattersMost.com
