On Energy.

I have a dog who is a minimum energy expenditure animal. He’s had a traumatic time in his life, so now he wants rest and recovery. His favourite thing is sleeping. When I get up in the morning I go to check whether he’s still breathing: he sleeps so deeply I have to watch close for the subterranean rise and fall of his reassuring breath. He’ll eventually stagger to his feet, accept a dog biscuit, and find his way down to the lawn where he takes up his daytime position for sleep.

            What is energy? My dictionary speaks of vigour or vitality, ability for intense application of force, activity, or power. According to the laws of physics, energy has different roles, different works that it is called upon to perform. Kinetic energy moves things. Vigour is a drive to health and growth in living beings, which translates into forceful expression, physical or mental. Vitality is related to energy with the added component of enthusiasm or animating force of life.

            You’ll know what it is when you haven’t got it. When people are physically or psychologically drained, that sounds much like a battery that has run down and needs to be recharged. With energy. The question is: how?

            When I consult books on how to get more energy, they tend to emphasis chemical energy, in the form of food, drugs, even internal chemicals such as adrenalin. Sugar, for example, adds energy in the short term, but may deplete it further on. Certain vitamins are necessary to life: a lack of energy may be a symptom of malnutrition. Good food, sufficient sleep (a lot more than you think) and good health (absence of disease and often, its medications) all tend to giving energy.

            Some things encourage mental energy. Actual interest is one of them. The greater the interest, the more energy for investigation. In this, interest is akin to love. The more love, the more attention is likely to be given, leading to more interest and more love. I was once told that you have to fall in love with a PhD project, because eventually you’ll come to hate it. You need a lot of interest to begin with.

            Some things deplete mental, psychological or emotional energy. Worry is one of them. Unfortunately, worry is a genetic trait; I have my share of it. Just give it back to your ancestors and let them carry it. Another is confusion. Clarity about what is actually happening is energising. The rose-coloured glasses are not helpful; neither are the dark dark glasses. Clear glass is the best. You can see through it.

            To become energetic, the self-help books advise surrounding yourself with energetic people. Real can-do types. I know many people who can and do get things done, but I don’t know anyone who’s charged with energy all the time. People generally seem to be looking for help from each other. As St. Paul says, no one has all the gifts, but people’s abilities complement one another. If you look around, you’re likely to see someone who has the answer to your problem.

            People long for love and attention, and that is best addressed by loving. Love and interest will carry you a long way. It will lead to the giving of attention, which generates its own energy.

            And I’ve found that I can take a leaf from my dog, the gentle rise and fall of his breath, taking a rest when it’s needful, taking a space between moments of energy. It’s not gone; it will come back. Animating life.