This might sound controversial.
Because many people are heard saying that “time” is the most precious commodity in life by any reckoning.
But to us, this comment is nothing more than saying its better to be alive than dead, which is not really very constructive and doesn’t take you very far.
In other words, there is no point in “killing time until the time kills us”!
Yet anyone who has received a gas, water or electricity bill in recent months will attest to the cost of energy to run their home.
These are unfortunately justified because without the sources of energy in question, we simply cannot live normal, safe, effective and comfortable lives.
These principles apply equally and without exception to personal energy.
Without it we cannot function and, as a car would eventually just break down, we will ultimately face burn out, an important matter we will cover in a separate post.
In essence, time is of little or limited use without the energy to use it productively, enjoyably and as we wish.
This is why one of the biggest complaints reported of long term illness (even terminal illness) is not the loss of time, but the loss of energy needed to put time to its optimum use.
We therefore treat our energy levels rather like a car fuel tank.
We regrettably have no visual guage as a car does to warn us that we may soon run dry, so we listen to our bodies giving us its own signs that our fuel levels our low.
And those signs can be many and varied – dry skin, bags under our eyes, difficulty concentrating, a recurring bug, appearing grumpy and subtle changes in our appetites (which could include consuming more or less) to name but a few.
We have to look at everything as a whole to draw a value judgement.
But we have to be careful, as we find that (like many cars!) our fuel tanks are shaped like upside down triangles, meaning that they can appear fine one minute but then deplete very quickly.
Monitoring energy levels is therefore an ongoing process for us.
And how do we top up our fuel and energy levels if they reduce despite our commitment to a wellness based lifestyle including plenty of exercise, meditation, hydration and a healthy diet?
Well, there are a number of effective ways.
We will use a scheduled couple “Us-A-Days”, for example (see our earlier post entitled “Get Away from It All” to Stressbust™ for a Bit") to rest rather than galavant.
We will take active and conscious steps to slow down.
This may sound silly, but we actually ensure that one another perform everyday tasks in slow motion, just to reduce the fuel usage and enable replenishment.
We will grab a siesta whenever time permits – we find 1 hour maximum before 3pm is the best time and duration so as not to interrupt night sleep and even if, as is often the case, we cannot actually sleep during our siesta, the rest alone is rejuvenating.
And we consciously review our short term commitments to agree which are essential and which are not to decrease our fuel spend for a bit.
In a severe case of energy depletion, we may not take further work on for a period, as we are not ashamed to make wellness one of our main priorities in life.
These simple self help steps (at least for the time being) seem to work for us in topping our energy levels up, but naturally we are mindful these will change with time and age.
Plus, everyone is different.
Some people may require supplements, but this is something that of course should be cleared with a pharmacist or doctor in advance.
Similarly, any long term depletion of energy not remedied by simple self help steps such as those outlined above may be a sign of an underlying medical condition, so should also be checked with a specialist. For more info, please refer to our “Legal Notices” page.
Much love, MikeyM&LouLoU™ 🤗💛💚 xxxxx