Sunday, January 14, 2001		Article

YOU must have met quite a few people who are always on the go. They are bubbling with excitement while tackling anything and inspire whosoever comes in contact with them. They are continually tapping their hidden sources of energy.

At one time or the other in your life you too had felt the same way. Remember, how you seemed to be bursting with energy. For instance, when you had to do a thing that you desperately wanted to, you got so lost in doing it that hours slipped by without registering on your mind. In some cases even days seemed too short. And yet you loved doing whatever you were into. Your work became your play.

One such time was at school. If you were not keen on mathematics, then the 45-minute-period seemed like a long, long time. But in the history class where you yearned to hear stories, actions and doings of yore, the same period seemed too short.

Once the school time was over, you rushed straight to the football pitch, a game you loved to play. There too, hours fled so soon. Likewise, when you had a secret appointment with your love and both of you sat holding hands in the woods an hour shrunk into a few minutes.

Now as you look back you wonder where all that excitement in life has gone. You don’t recognise yourself as the person you once were. Though you are not very old — middle-aged or a little over — yet you have to drag yourself every morning to your job.

By the evening when you return home you feel drained of energy. Small tasks remain unattended, letters remain unanswered, the leaky tap stays unrepaired, precious hours go by as you stay glued to the TV.

What has gone wrong with you? Quite a few things. You have not learnt one basic truth about your body. It wears out from lack of use. The more you use it, the better it functions. Body’s lifeforce or energy comes out of motion. This energy, once generated, cannot be hoarded by your body.

Surprisingly, even now your body has a big store of potential energy wanting to burst out in action. It is so vast that you can never exhaust it in your life time and hardly use a fraction of it. Imagine what turn your life can take if you tap even ten per cent of this energy. But probably, you don’t know how to go about it. Here are some tips to wake up this powerful giant sleeping within you.

Exercise your body. Half an hour’s aerobic or any other exercise every day is enough to keep you going throughout your working day. It will make you feel good about your body. Observers say that those who get this feeling are likely to use their energy to do good to others as well. Conversely, those who don’t exercise their bodies or lead sedentary lives don’t. They don’t remain healthy either.

Be truthful. Don’t hide things. Whether at home with your loved ones or with people you work with at your job place, telling the truth — and encouraging those around you to do so — keeps your energy flowing.

Telling the truth works best when you reveal your own feelings, with a view not to insult people or getting your own way. True it take a lot of courage to be truthful — even risk, challenge and sometimes danger — but it releases the energy pent up in you.

Anger is an energy, use it positively. A burst of anger is nothing but the burning of your energy negatively. So when you feel anger arising within you, instead of wrecking it on the person who may have caused it, involve yourself feverishly in doing some unfinished work or project.

Think and act positively. "As you sow, so shall you reap," maybe an old saying but it is as valid now as it was in the past. When you think and involve yourself in positive actions your latent energy circulates uninterrupted within your system. Parents who profusely praise a child when he does something commendable, help develop positive outlook in life in him/her. And when such a child grows up, he/she is never short on energy. On top, he energises positively those around him.

Set your goals and priorities. Streamline your working for each day by making a list of tasks to be done, people to be met, set in order of priority before leaving home. Thus, by the end of your working day, you’ll find that your most pressing tasks have been accomplished.

Do not lose sight of the broader goals of life you have set for yourself. Most persons don’t know what they want in life and, as such, keep on drifting from one day to the next. No wonder they are always short on energy. Nothing surges you with energy than a goal you have set your heart on and if it is meant to be of some help to other fellow travellers on this spaceship Earth as well.

Set your own deadlines. Have you observed how you feel suddenly energised when you have to meet deadlines set by others you work for. Nothing releases our untapped energy reserves than deadlines, dangers and challenges we face from time to time. So why not set your own deadlines to meet your goals and be serious about them. When you do that wholeheartedly, you’ll be astonished at the energy that’d suffuse you to work to meet your targeted deadlines.

Remain on the move. Unlike money, you cannot store energy. But by balancing proper rest and work, you’ll always find your energy reservoirs full. This is because remaining active in a positive way and feeling energised all the time go together.