ENERGY – PART TWO

Some time ago in one of my blogs I wrote about a guy whose girlfriend breaks up with him.  “He’s filled with despair, is tired, has no energy.  He’s dirty, hasn’t showered in days, his apartment’s a mess, he’s a mess.  His girlfriend calls. ‘I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. Please, please forgive me. Can I at least come over and talk to you, explain what happened?’ He says she can come over in two hours.

Suddenly he’s full of energy. He cleans the apartment, changes the linens, showers, does a load of laundry, gets dressed and runs downstairs to the small market to get some basics.  He’s bursting with energy.  So the question is – where was all this guy’s energy before his girlfriend called? And how did he get it back?  The answer is, of course, that it was always there. And, he was using it – all of it. He was using all of his energy to feel bad – and doing a great job! It takes a LOT of energy to be miserable. And he got it back when he believed his life had changed back to what he wanted it to be.”

So that was the gist of the blog. I recently re-read it, and thought about what had been going on with me a few weeks ago. I was going in for a medical procedure, one that I had asked for, because I thought something wasn’t working right. As the day approached, and I had to go through three days of prepping for the procedure, special diet, etc., I found I was really not myself. I was a bit listless, and worried, didn’t really want to be around friends.

Then I saw what I was doing to myself, and I decided to take matters back into my own hands, realizing that I had given myself over to the scarethink of the medical community. I meditated, did some EFT (called Tapping in some circles) and also went for a walk. And during that time, which took up much of the afternoon, I had many realizations.

On my walk I came to some conclusions about what had been going on. I don’t think it’s unique to me, just as the situation above with the guy and his lost girlfriend is not unique. Maybe it’s just another another possible way of looking at the issues that plague us .

When we have been active, healthy and social, then become ill or have health concerns, the world changes. We can feel a terrible loss, and we mourn the vibrant person we once were; sometimes we act as if that person is about to disappear.  We fail to realize that much of the energy we had before we began to worry is still in there, and we lose sight of the fact that we can draw on a large pool of energy for help.

In fact, we often use some of our valuable energy to worry; we focus on what might  happen, robbing ourselves of the energy resources at our disposal. The life we expected to have, want to have, starts to get buried under all sorts of emotional considerations. And the mind doesn’t help – it goes on roiling away, reinforcing fears and anxieties.

Activities like tapping, acupressure or other techniques are invaluable in helping us regain the energy and vitality we thought was gone from life. Why? Because all of the accumulated pains and afflictions – physical as well as emotional – embed themselves in our cells, which hold on to the pain. Tapping helps to draw out this embedded pain, just the way a poultice might for a skin infection.  No only are the anxieties and worries alleviated, but the symptoms often abate as well.

What I have experienced, and what I have come to know, is that when you use acupressure points, as one does in tapping, and talk about the issues that are painful, be they physical or emotional, you actually draw out the pain locked within your body, and as that pain releases, it frees up the locked-up energy and vitality you thought was gone forever. The energy you regain may have to be channeled differently, but at least you gain a greater control of your life.

I met my friend Becca, a meditation and yoga teacher for many years, because I wanted to do some tapping with a professional after an illness that left me feeling bereft.  I found out  that she began tapping when she was bed-ridden with two disintegrating discs, was in terrible pain, and did not see much joy happening in her life. She had overworked herself into being almost crippled.

She still has the two disintegrating discs, thought you wouldn’t know it to meet her;  she’s active, teaches yoga and meditation, does retreats, and has a full life with her husband. And Sofia, the cat. (Must never forget the cat.) She changed her life through tapping, diet and yoga, and I believe this is possible for anyone.

We are each the captain of our ship, the god of the galaxy that is our body. And it is up to us to manipulate and maneuver the energy in the best way possible to make sure that we have a healthy, happy life, despite physical disabilities or emotional upsets that are part of everyday living. If it means change of diet, (it frequently does) change of lifestyle in terms of behavior, schedules and activities, (it frequently does) and change of outlook, (it frequently does) it’s worth it. It all depends upon what kind of changes you’re willing to make; what’s the tradeoff worth? For some people the tradeoff is not worth the effort involved. But for those who are willing to find a way to make life better, the results are there to be experienced.

And by the way, all the energy I used to worry about my health, I re-channeled into being proactive about it. As a result, I feel more awake and more alive, I’m dancing again, I’ve gotten rid of a medication that was used to cover up (not cure) a stress-related problem. I no longer need it. (One down, one to go!)

Life is a grand buffet – choose wisely what you take from the table.