April 13, 2021 — Oh, leaky leaky energy leaks!! Can you relate to any of these?
-walking past that pile of stuff you bought 3 weeks ago but never put away (did you even need it?)
-Amazon boxes that were long ago opened but remain where they fell, packing materials as well (and more accumulating)
-those cards you were going to send to someone (last year) but haven’t written (that birthday is long gone)
-the pile of stuff you were going to give to your sister for your niece (oh, it needed washing first, will I even remember that I’d decided to give it away?)
-the items you collected for the school’s homeless kits but never took to the school (guilt-inducing…)
-the dishwasher doesn’t clean all that well and likely needs that semi-annual de-gunking (who has time for that?)
These are just environmental examples, because this blog post would be 1000+ words if I started listing mental energy leaks, but I’m sure you get it…we all have them.
Energy leaks are REAL. They slow drip, if you’re lucky. But sometimes they turn into a wild hemorrhage, likely because you didn’t address it when it was still subtle.
Yesterday I plugged 3 major ones. YES! 3 in 1 day??? Actually, all in 1 afternoon!! Crazy.
A super rare, but so appreciated!!
Without getting too bogged down in details, we had a lease situation that was way less than ideal. It was NOT going to improve. It just needed to be dealt with, but when you’re dealing with contracts, people get…testy…usually someone is on the losing end of something. We “chose” to lose some money (again, thanks to COVID) but it was the right choice for the situation. So, it’s done!! Woooot!!
Literally a huge weight off our shoulders. But that stress had been living for so long in my psyche that I didn’t immediately celebrate the “win” and was still in the grumpy-time headspace.
GIRL!! I had to remind myself, “Wow, I no longer have to feel that icky feeling any more because we solved it!!!”
And then, wow…I was a shell. I was pooped. I needed to recover. Why??
Because plugging an energy leak is a form of GROWTH.<—- (read that TWICE!)
First, you celebrate that, for now, that particular energy leak is not active.
DON’T MISS THIS PART! You can’t really get it back later, so celebrate!!
Then, you need to allow for healing and moving past it. You spent so much unconscious energy on it, that now that it’s plugged, your body and spirit get to re-adjust! Re-set.
And then you move on to the next one!
What things can you do to begin to address these omnipresent irritants AKA: energy leaks?
-first, SLOW DOWN for a hot second and BREATHE….calmly….
-observe your inner and outer surroundings (more breathing)
-if available, or would be helpful, consult someone you trust but isn’t directly involved (some “fresh eyes”)
-time for a brain dump (I recommend a note card for each separate energy leak)
-place a 1 (mild), 2 (medium), or 3 (hot) next to each item (think: salsa!)
-gather the index cards with a 3 and pick one
-turn it over and write 3 TINY actions you can take to move that situation forward (and I mean so small that you laugh at how small!)
-then do one of those tiny, laughably small things to begin to plug said energy leak
-repeat until that one is done (this is not done in one sitting, of course)
-if it’s appealing, tear it up with a big, triumphant smile on your face!!
-CELEBRATE!
(If you own a Sunday Basket(tm) System, then store those cards in there so you can work through them every week)
When we stew in something for days, weeks, even YEARS, the need to celebrate is more necessary than you think.
When the heavy blanket gets shed, you must embrace the lightness! It’s so good.
Like a cool breeze on a hot night. Don’t let it pass by without feeling the sensation. York Peppermint Patty style! (why are those so good?? I need one right now LOL)
Then, you’ve opened up space to move forward. To expand.
YESSSSSSS.
Go get that stack of index cards and your favorite Sharpie. You’ve got this!
(If you like this kind of thing, we expand on this stuff in Lunch Bunch Live in my free Facebook Group: the CALM Collaborative…most every Thursday at 11:15am CST. Come join us!!)
