Managing Energy vs. Managing Actions

A close friend recently shared an observation with me that she heard from listening to the Abraham material.  It's one of those simple-sounding, yet profound distinctions:  We experience the sense of being overwhelmed when we attempt to manage our actions in lieu of managing our energy.

This distinction rang true for me personally, yet what does it really mean to manage our energy?  I don't have the benefit of knowing the context from which this distinction was made in the Abraham material.  I am well acquainted enough with their ideas to open up the discussion.  I ask you to jump in and broaden this conversation - tell us what you think and if this resonates for you.

Here's what I do know.  When I do not follow where my energy goes, I find myself dealing with internal resistance that slogs down my external actions.  Abraham calls this swimming upstream.  And we all know that swimming upstream requires more work and exertion.

When you feel enthusiasm to do something, it means you've lined up the Energy, and you are being inspired to take action from that point of alignment.  When you don't feel like doing it, don't push yourself, because your effort is not worth it.  But, when you line up the Energy, the feeling of procrastination goes away.
- Abraham

The first thing that hit me when I heard my friend make this distinction involves my business.  We are developing a new business model that involves additional revenue streams to ensure greater profitability.  However I realize my involvement in one of these sidearms isn't working.  I hate it so much that I have to work hard to do it, and feel both overwhelmed and disheartened.  Worse yet, it distracts me from what I do well in the other part of the business.  I gotta pay attention to that and make a different choice.  I gotta manage my energy.

Here's an example that just occurred a few days ago.  A 5-day trip back to Ohio to see friends and family was canceled, literally at the last minute.  My bags were packed, the car loaded up with goodies and favorite CD's to listen to, when I received a phone call from my college roommate at 6:45 a.m.  She told me that a major snowstorm was due to hit Columbus within 24 hours. [Later Ohio was hit hard with up to 16" of snow!]  We agreed to cancel and reschedule for later. 

Having planned to leave on this trip, I had already clocked out of work mentally.  I felt quite dismayed.  I needed a break, and wanted to see everyone.  The thought of resuming work felt tortuous.  I wasn't in the mood!

I consciously paid attention to my energy.  I decided to schedule a playday for Friday.  After working in my office for an hour, finishing up some email and phone calls, I turned off my cell phone.  A girlfriend drove up and we went out to lunch and to a movie. 

Taking this time off for fun lifted my spirits.  I found myself actually motivated to go into my office Saturday and clean it up.  In addition I got caught up on other necessary paperwork.  Doing these work-related actions Saturday didn't feel like work, oddly enough.  I felt drawn to doing them because of where my energy was.

Please jump in with your ideas on managing energy.  What do you think about this distinction?  What has been your experience?

Comments

[Kammie]

Hello Debbie,

It's been a while since I've had some time to visit some of my favorite blogs...so I'm happy to drop in and eavsdrop on your intersting conversation.

I totally agree with what you and Abe are saying. I'm witnessing in my own life, that when I step into a project with energy and inspiration, I feel GOOD about the tasks at hand. If I feel like I have to PUSH myself to do it (writing for exammple) then I'm not as excited about getting that thing done. It's that whole BEING vs. DOing balancing act we all seem to dance with.

I've tried allowing for white space in my schedule to accept spontanious invitations (like you did with your friend) and to really amp up on a project if I'm "feeling it"...and allow myself to just have some quiet/down time if I'm not.

Seems that when we manage and go with the FLOW of our energy vs. PUSHING against it...we end up getting a lot more accomplished!

Thanks for the inspiring post.

[Deb Call]

Kammie - thanks for keeping this conversation going with your own experience. Your example also implies the necessity of TRUSTING ourselves to follow where our energy goes. Sometimes I attempt to fight it, and as you say, it's hard to accomplish something when we are pushing against it. We are such a driven, action-oriented culture. It's easy to fall back into that without thinking, and without managing our energy.

[Deborah Imershein]

Thanks, Deb, for the reminder that re-charging can make me a lot more productive than just charging. Charging as in forcing myself to charge ahead, or as you well said, swim upstream.

I would like to expand on Kammie's point. For me it is about how I am being while I am doing, as well as the not doing. The old saying about "Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water" comes to mind. I don't profess to be a master of enlightenment, though I do find the more my peephole on the world is a joyous, peaceful (etc.) one the more any task or event feels blessed.

Speaking of energy, I enjoy the energy of your blog! Thanks, Deb.

[Andrea Hess]

Debbie,

Great article! I agree that our own energy levels will generally point us in the right direction. The greater part of us knows when we need to recharge, or when something is off.

One thing, though .... sometimes we also meet great resistance from our ego, or Lower Self. For example, we're inspired with a business idea, a venture, but we keep procrastinating. Sometimes there is fear of expansion. The Lower Self likes to maintain status quo - it's an ancient survival instinct. So sometimes enthusiasm is missing, because there is fear. We have to learn to be discerning about when something truly isn't aligned, and when our Lower Self is running interference.

Usually, when there is Lower Self interference, we procrastinate and don't want to do something - but if we do, it generally feels pretty darn good. On the other hand, if something truly is out of alignment, the doing feels "off" all on its own. But we cannot know for sure until we take a few steps along a path!

Blessings,
Andrea

[Deb Call]

I love the point you make, Deb, that when you are in that place of joy, or peace, any activity takes on a different hue - a blessed one. Even folding laundry can be enjoyable for me in that space.

Andrea, your distinction is important to keep in mind. How many things in our lives do we not want to do (like get up early in the a.m. for me),even when we know we need to do it? Self-awareness, perspective, and discernment are necessary, as you highlight, in order to differentiate ego-based fears from true mis-alignment of energy.

[Hemal]

Hi Debbie and everyone,

Nice to meet you!

Absolutely, when someone does something away from something they didn't feel excited about shall we say, and it changes their state, they have in likelihood relieved the resistance they had about it (the improvement in feeling is the indicator). It's like they say, if you're not feeling good, focus on ANYTHING that feels good, that will change things vibrationally and then one follows their inspiration, i.e. what feels good (or at least better! lol And then continue on with feeling better things).

Oftentimes, when one has made shifts vibrationally, things can happen where either the 'task' is looked at as more fun or something happens that means it doesn't need to be done anymore, such as someone doing it or something happening that takes care of it.

Have a lovely day,
Hemal

[Deb Call]

Welcome to the conversation, Hemal. It's fun to hear others expand on the ideas around following our energy. Your comments on noticing what feels good as an indication of release of resistance is well put. Thanks for stopping by and joining in.

[Law of Attraction Guide]

Hi its John Peace from the Law-of-Attraction-Guide.com, good thoughts.

Have you seen the film from Ester called The Meaning of Life, it's posted on YouTube.

The answer is JOY, follow your joy is the way downstream, and if there's something that needs doing, that doesn't give you joy, perhaps you could give it to someone who would get joy doing it.

[Deb Call]

John, thanks for the tip on the YouTube film. I'll want to check that out.

No matter how often I hear it, following "joy" is not automatic for me. But just knowing that helps! Thanks for stopping by.