Human Beings are Destined to Radiate or Drain

(I wrote this back in June but couldn't decide if I wanted to post it. I just read it again and ultimately decided that I want it here as a reminder to myself from time to time!)

Well, it's definitely been a quick minute since I was here last... oops! :) 

Over the last few months I feel like someone upstairs has been trying to teach me a very obvious and pointed lesson. 

It's come from so many aspects of my life that there's no chance it's all been coincidental!

Someone recently came into my life who can only be described as an energy vampire (apparently that's a legitimate term - I just discovered it via the all-knowing Google). 

Every interaction with this person seemed to drain all of the energy from the room and I would leave these interactions feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. 

This got me thinking about the energy we all bring to relationships and interactions, and how easily they can impact others. I began to realize the importance of taking responsibility for our energy.

As I was going through this experience and thinking about it, there seemed to be things reinforcing this concept coming at me from all directions, so I thought I would share a few.

First of all, a few months ago I heard someone somewhere mention the power in changing apologetic statements, or, "I'm sorry's," into "thank you's."

For example, instead of apologizing for arriving late, you can instead thank your coworker, friend, or family member for waiting for you.
This is such a simple, yet important and powerful shift from an inherently negative statement to one that is uplifting and full of gratitude. I can only imagine how that type of simple gratitude can impact our lives in even bigger ways!

Second, in a talk I heard recently about happiness I was reminded of three important points:

1. Happiness is not dependent on other people

2. Happiness is not an eternal state

3. Happiness is a choice

In other words, we do not need to be happy 24/7 in order to be a happy person. That isn't sustainable. But finding happiness where you are, despite situations and circumstances, is. 

Third, I follow one of the sweetest, most genuine women on Instagram - Jenna Rammell, AKA, Jenna's Kitchen. Each day in June she's been sharing an affirmation as part of her 30 Days of Affirmations. Here are a couple that stood out to me:

Last but not least, and you have my permission to chuckle a little at this... I was listening to Ed Sheeran today and his song, "Save Myself," came on. I've only listened to it a couple of times previously, but one part stood out to me today:

"I gave you all my energy and I took away your pain,

Cause human beings are destined to radiate or drain.

What line do we stand upon cause from here it looks the same?"

I think this brings up a very important point - that it can be so difficult to determine if we are radiating and spreading positive energy to others, or if we are draining others.

Over the course of the last couple of months as I've thought about this, I reflected back on the last year or so of my life and took a hard look at whether or not I had been radiating or draining.

Unfortunately, I think I was draining more often than not, and it's easy to make excuses for it, too!

I was so overwhelmingly busy with classes, clients, my thesis, maintaining a social life, finding time to exercise and sleep, and on and on. January to April was easily the hardest semester of school that I've ever faced, and it was easy to let that translate to becoming an energy vampire.

Luckily, one of the greatest conditions of our existence is that we get to change.

So I've tried to actively work on changing my energy from that of a drainer to a radiator.

.....annnnd this just got too cheesy, even for me. 🙄😂

Moral of the story, we have the choice (within reason) and the responsibility to take control of our energy and choose to be positive and radiate, rather than drain.

It's impossible to be perfect at it - no one is - but the best we can do is try.