Good Energy
“Good energy! Bring it!”
This is my motto, my philosophy of the new school year. If you know me, you know it is pretty much the way I roll much of the time, but this emerged for work in a way that has a story worth telling.
I have had a small whiteboard hanging on a file cabinet in my office for many years. When I was going through breast cancer treatment and surgeries fifteen years ago, these words ended up on the whiteboard:
“Conserve your energy for the right fight” came out of a conversation with a friend. There’s plenty going on in one’s head, heart, and body when going through cancer. Putting my energy where it would help and heal most was certainly beneficial. It is worth remembering in all of life’s challenging moments. When I have forgotten this wisdom, I have paid the price in more and prolonged pain.
“Outrun, outlast” came from my runner’s heart and mindset. Outrun and outlast those wily little cancer cells. My runner’s heart and mindset fortified me then and still does today.
These phrases have continued to remind me of priorities and inspire me. For years, they were pretty much only visible to me as I sat at my desk on the phone. But they also blended into the rest of the familiar scene of my office and job. When I moved offices two years ago, the whiteboard got a more prominent location.
When I walked in a couple of weeks ago and saw it, I decided the new year needed some new words. I will forever treasure the words I erased from the board that morning. It’s one of the reasons I took a picture of it.
And I am ready to more fully lean into the new words—”Good energy! Bring it! It is a year of many changes and a year without some friends and familiar faces. It is also a year of growth and opportunity.
Today I am so appreciative that daily practices to live gratefully and engage in mindfulness meditation have revealed to me the true sources of good energy. I am grateful that I have already brought this good energy to conversations, meetings, presentations in front of staff and students, and my trips up and down the halls.
Will I always have this good energy? No. I am human and I get tired. I do believe I will have it more and return to it more readily. What a difference it all makes. Onward!
