The Energy Quota

The holiday season has officially arrived. Here in the US, we have just celebrated Thanksgiving which then opens the floodgates to the many celebrations held in December. It's a time where we tend to socialize, eat and drink as well as spend more cash than usual. We arrive at New Years Day wondering what hit us and how did it seem to spin out of control? When the credit card bill arrives mid-January did we go beyond our limits? How about your own personal physical limits?

This leads me to my thought of the week-do you know your energy budget?

I was talking with a friend whose sister has chronic fatigue and has dealt with it for the past decade. She recently adopted a child and was as happy as ever. I asked my friend, "how does she keep up with a young child with her chronic fatigue?". She replied, "she knows how to manage the limited energy that she has".

This is true for all of us whether we're a teen or somebody dealing with an illness. We all have an energy quota. The energy quota is a term I've coined that relates to how much energy expenditure we can handle in a day. But it's a bit tricky as it can shift without us realizing it. We go to work/school, we're busy so we don't really stop for lunch but just grab a bite. We have a project with a deadline so we stay later than the standard time. This results in us grabbing something on the way home that's either take out food or an easy to prepare meal at home. We're already tired so we plop down on the couch or head back to the laptop and as we find ourselves dozing off, we head off to bed.

We've gone into debt with our own energy quota. We missed the signs that our body was asking to stop, slow down or take a break. And, oh yeah, could you put something of high nourishment into the tank in the process?

I've been doing the energy quota dance for as long as I can remember. It simply began with believing that I had an endless supply of energy and that the quota was something that other people had, not people like me who were always told "you have so much energy!". Then it hit me. It didn't just sneak up and if it did, I continued to ignore the sneaking up, but it slammed me with a full on body blow. The type of experience where your body no longer whispers to you to slow down, but begins to scream at you...yelling "I said S L O W D O W N!". As a result instead of boundless energy, I had boundless fatigue. Why was I always so tired? Why didn't coffee in the morning fix it?

It's at moments like these that we get to know our energy quota. We realize that we've overspent and now it's time to pay attention to our budget. For me, this included getting enough sleep by going to bed around the same time every night and not burning the proverbial candle at both ends. It also meant drinking way less alcohol and caffeine. It meant becoming a better vegetarian and committing to practices that serve and support my life rather than constantly testing its boundaries.

My yoga practice has been the perfect antidote for overstepping my energy quota. It has helped me establish ritualized practices where I connect to my higher self and listen to my inner voice. I still tend to throw many balls into the air. I feel life is short and an abundance of opportunities await. And I am still constantly re-defining my quota, particularly as I age.

So...do you know your energy quota? If not, perhaps now is the time to acknowledge that you have one and learn a bit more about it. I figure in the end...we can all find the perfect balance.