Many people, including myself, had this problem a few months ago.
Now, thanks to the lockdown, it’s probably worse.
This is not something that people talk about a lot. Sure, it comes up here or there, but honestly, I see this as a big challenge.
And the source of much of our misery.
As it deserves more attention, here I am contributing my grain of sand.
So let’s talk about unspent energy.
To see what I mean, imagine that you are full of energy. It’s like you’ve drunk your weight in caffeine except instead of getting jittery, you can focus.
You just want to go for a run.
Or maybe write 5000 words.
Instead…
Go to bed and look at something.
When you are tired, there is nothing more pleasant than slipping between the sheets and letting yourself rest. But when you’re bouncing? It’s hard to sit still, like your legs are moving even though you don’t want to.
Okay, that sounds nasty.
But it is not the worst torture in the world.
Until you do it the next day too.
So the day after that.
After a while, that nervousness and restlessness becomes stronger. You begin to feel that the energy is eating you alive.
Then the energy will start to leak out in other unhealthy ways. It will go away, leaving you feeling strangely tired. Or he will start to act strangely, like lashing out at loved ones.
Probably both, to be honest.
Now think of other types of energy you can have besides physical.
You may have the desire to work hard on meaningful projects, but to pay the bills, you do boring, tedious work that comes to nothing. Aside from making your bosses rich, of course. Someone in this situation may lash out in strange ways. You’ve seen (and probably even experienced) it for yourself.
It can start with a craving for distractions, like junk food, video games, or worse.
Then it can start to tear you apart, physically and mentally.
I am not saying that this is the only problem that causes unsatisfactory work. And I’m not saying that spending an hour a day on some other meaningful project will fix everything.
But can.
Oh boy can you
(Why do you think I started writing?)
Speaking of which, creative energy is another thing that needs an outlet. City simulators, Minecraft and other things are so popular because they give people a way to release pent up creative frustration. If everyone was writing a book, something they were deeply passionate about, these games would be a lot less popular.
And of course there is the energy around sexuality. I won’t go into the ways a person can go wrong when they don’t express themselves.
You may have dozens of power sources like this.
Some days, you get up to make a difference
Others, because you like spending time with people.
Others still, it’s about the paycheck, which you channel towards worthy causes close to your heart.
The list goes on.
And it is an important list because any of these energies, poorly managed or expressed, can cause all kinds of problems.
Invisibly wearing down the foundations of your psyche, until things start to collapse.
If I had to give you only one mission for this month, it would be this:
Find out the ways your energies are being held back.
Then discover healthy ways to channel and express them.