Faith Venture

We are told that in the physical world everything is composed of energy and information. At least, that’s the quantum physics short form. That leaves out the spiritual realm, of course, but that ties in, too.

If we are energy, why is it that we so often out of energy?

This year I had some outpatient surgery in January and March. Then pulled a muscle in June or July that took a while to work through. Essentially, I was on reduced exercise for seven months.

Now I have much greater understanding of people struggling to recover from major surgery. Or even athletes in the prime of their conditioned lives taking months to recover from some injuries. Healing takes a lot of energy.

Often we just sit, though, and feel out of energy. We don’t feel like reading. We don’t feel like exercising. We can’t focus on work.

What do we do?

We know that energy comes from what we eat. It’s a pun in German (I first read in Ludwig Feuerbach), “Man ist, was er isst.” Man is what he eats. We know that high simple carbohydrates (aka sugars, etc.) give a quick energy boost followed by a letdown. Meals of high fat and starch will make you sleepy. Of course, both make you heavier.

So, we begin with diet.

Sometimes it’s our thoughts. We dwell on negative thoughts or worries or fears. Did you know that we have the power to change our thoughts? Paul often talked about setting your mind on things above. Jesus often withdrew from people to communicate with God his Father. Many ancient philosophers concluded that “we become what we think about.”

Then there is exercise. We all have different capacities for exercise. But, if we’re in an energy loss rut, then it’s time to change the exercise. Walk faster. Take up cycling. Run farther. Take a different route or a new location.

Then use your to-do list. Every week look at what you need to do. Make a list. Pick the day’s most important task. Work on it. Accomplishment is a virtuous cycle. You get one task done and you feel more like tackling the next–after an appropriate reward, perhaps.

Traditionally in the United States, Labor Day marks the end of “summer vacation” and the beginning of back to work. In Europe for the most part it’s just the first of September that marks the same thing. It’s Tuesday. Labor Day is behind us. It’s time to work up some energy and tackle those tasks.