Choosing the energy we put into the world is more than a Jedi mind trick. I have loved the Star Wars Saga since the very beginning, and I don’t think I have missed a single one. In each segment the Jedi are skilled at adjusting the mind set and actions of others in order to gain passage or reduce conflict. That ability sure made it easier to get the mission accomplished. The truth is we have Jedi powers too. We have powers to shift our own paradigms, our own interpretations, our own way to see our world, and we have power over the energy those shifts create for us. Our Jedi mind tricks, however, require work, discomfort, and effort.
Each thought we have results in personal energy. Every single one. Here is how.
Our thoughts and beliefs stimulate our brain and hormone production. These trigger our feelings. Feelings trigger emotions and our emotions cause action or inaction. This chain is activated by both conscious beliefs and by unconscious, ‘auto pilot’ beliefs. All produce energy.
Personal energy is either anabolic or catabolic. Anabolic energy leaves us feeling positive, affirming, optimistic, and encouraged. It produces hormones like testosterone and estrogen and other productive growth hormones. In anabolic energy we focus on opportunity and possibility in problem solving, planning and daily life. We come at it from a place of abundance.
Catabolic energy leaves us feeling more pessimistic, defeated, sometimes with a victim mentality and a knot in our stomach. It produces hormones like cortisol and adrenaline which break down cell structure. Both are associated with high stress responses. In catabolic energy we focus on the source of our problems and on avoiding or assigning blame. We come at it from a place of scarcity
So, what’s the big deal? Why does this idea of personal energy matter?
The kind of energy we produce and share with the world is our choice, energy is a choice. We will be the victim of our worrisome thoughts and beliefs only if we choose to be. We can also dig into those thoughts and beliefs, challenge them, and then maybe recognize another truth, a paradigm shift, if we choose to.
We are not fully one energy or the other. We have capacity for both. We experience both. We are prone to be in one or the other kind of energy. Studies in neuroscience tell us that the pathways our brain takes most frequently are the ones we follow most often and are the easiest to navigate. Habits and ways of thinking (thoughts and beliefs) are on a natural superhighway that becomes an autopilot response or action. We can choose to challenge our point of view and pave a new way, a new neurological path, and the paradigm shift begins.
I was talking with a young adult adoptee recently and we got onto a conversation about the root of his lifelong belief that he is unlovable and not worthy of real friendship and acceptance. He talked about a time when he was about 3 years old, new to his adoptive family and left on his own at a large family picnic. He remembers being swarmed by a bunch of kids his age and then left behind as they ran away to play. At the time he felt sure they had rejected him and wanted nothing to do with him. He remembers feeling anxious and rejected. The legacy of adoption, of being released and left, starts at an early age. The unconscious belief that he would never be liked, valued, and accepted was implanted early and without the spur to challenge it, that belief was still active today. That belief has ruled these past 20 years. He is now walking into the person he was created to be. Is this early belief true about who he is today? No. Has it influenced what he thinks of himself and the actions he takes? Yes. Now that he is aware, the paradigm shift can begin. YES!
The event at that picnic resulted in a belief that allowed him to be comforted for that moment in time. Life continued to trigger that belief and the hormones that go with it. The belief and hormones triggered feelings; that triggered emotions; that have triggered actions; that have influenced self-perceptions and relationships … all in a nano second because they were on a superhighway of familiarity. WOW talk about a place where a paradigm shift can change a life!
Catabolic energy, in the wrong place, can stall potential. Realizing that is better than any Jedi mind trick.
So, which kind of energy do you experience most often? Is it working for you? Do you lean more toward Ana or Cat? What are the beliefs that hold you in that energy? I hold a few calendar slots for no-cost conversations each week. Let me know if I can give one to you. You might also appreciate my Facebook page. You will find a community that you can relate to.
May the force be with you!