The Will to a Meaningful Life

23. January 2009 by John Schinnerer.

John L. Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Assuming the existence of other levels of reality that are invisible to the human eye, let’s take a look at the playing field, which in this case is the individual – you and me. Human beings are made up of a life force, or spirit. In her book, Positive Energy, Judith Orloff describes Energy Psychiatry as a new specialty which “views our bodies and spirits as manifestations of subtle energies.”  As she points out, many individuals have spent time and money on cognitive therapies in the hopes that contentment may be found along the path of intellect alone.

To some extent this is true – the mind is often the starting line. The rational mind is one of the subtle energies of which we are comprised. Exploration of the rational mind is the typical place to embark upon the inner journey and it frequently leads to deep intellectual and emotional discoveries. The rational mind is an important part of the playing field, but it is not the entire field.

There are at least six types of subtle energies – intellectual, emotional, ethical, spiritual, physical, and relational.  Each of these areas has to be filled, renewed and replenished regularly for you to live out your potential, to live with passion and purpose. It is not sufficient to address one or two or three of these areas and expect any lasting positive change. All six areas must be taken together, worked on together, to effect a lasting, meaningful change.

In The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz do an excellent job of pointing out some of the fundamental rules of the game of life:

“Managing energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance. Performance is grounded in the skillful management of energy.”

“Because energy diminishes both with overuse and with underuse, we must balance energy expenditures with intermittent energy renewal. To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do. Positive energy rituals – highly specific routines for managing energy – are the key to full engagement and to sustained high performance.”

It is the successful management of these subtle energies that enable you to perform at your best, with passion and purpose, in the game of life. In general, these subtle energies are defined as follows:

Intellectual energy – Intellectual energy is your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes. It is the self-talk that runs through your head when you converse with yourself silently. We typically combine intellectual and emotional energy into one area as several sources have shown that thought and emotion are frequently intertwined. There is no clear evidence at this time that one precedes the other. The goal, however, is to separate your thoughts from your emotions so that you can perceive what is “out there” with greater clarity.

Emotional energy – Emotional energy is your mood and your affect and your ability to be aware of and control them. Your mood is the underlying feeling, or what you really feel at any given moment. Your affect is the emotional mask that you show to the outside world. Emotions frequently cloud our interpretation of that which is going on around us. One of the purposes of this blog is to help you slow down the emotional hijacking process, recognize that you are becoming emotional, breathe, and release the emotion. This enables you to perceive things more clearly without emotion fogging the lens.

Spiritual energy – Spiritual energy is the degree to which you believe in a higher power. It is that subtle energy which gives you Meaning in life. Spiritual energy increases in direct proportion to one’s awareness of the interconnectedness of all things. In my opinion, without this awareness and a faith in a higher power, there is no Meaning nor happiness. I’m sure some will argue this point. However, my experience has shown me that this is a necessary component of Meaning.

Ethical energy – Ethical energy is the extent to which you behave in accordance with your values. Of course, to be able to do this, you have to be aware of your values. Values are those principles which you would be willing to die for, or better yet, to live for. Acting in accordance with your values and ethics increases the degree to which you are engaged in your life. The greater your degree of engagement, the greater is your happiness and satisfaction.

Physical energy – Physical energy is your physical health, stamina, endurance, blood pressure, pulse, and so on. This includes all the measures of the physical health of your body.

Relational energy – Relational energy is the energy gained or lost through interacting with other people. Energy vampires can drain it from you. Loved ones can restore it through compassion, listening and love.

These areas support and replenish a central reservoir of energy like a spider web. The reservoir of energy is dependent upon your ability to renew yourself in each of these six areas. To the extent that you are depleted in any one of the six areas, the storage capacity of your reservoir is reduced. Thus, if you are in poor physical health and always exhausted, your reservoir, or gas tank, is reduced in size. The smaller your reservoir, the less likely you are to perform at your peak in the other five areas. The goal is to maintain your awareness and to renew your energy in each of these areas in order to maximize your productivity, potential and happiness.

Posted in The human brain, Consciousness, Relationships, Awareness, Energy psychology, Anger Management, Emotional management, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Happiness, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »