Becoming Emotionally Energy Efficient

Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but transformed from one state to another.
I consider myself to be a high voltage kind of woman.  I've been described as running on 220 while people like my husband operate at 75.  I work quickly.  I even walk at a faster pace than most.  Somehow, I manage to complete major projects in a matter of hours.  When I make a decision to put my energy behind someone or something...it is with full force, and I can't think about anything else until the mission is complete or the problem is solved.  Some might call this a form of OCD (which is a complete misuse of the term, by the way...look it up), but I think that it is born out of a need for control and order (A good diet and physical stamina helps as well, but that's a whole other blog). You would think that being a stay-at-home mom would be a no brainer, and that I would be extremely productive.  Still, there are major issues and tasks that go unattended, and it made me wonder, "Why? How can I be home all day and still seem to get nothing done?"

A week or so ago, while advising a friend not to waste her energy on unworthy causes, I had to stop and think "Whoa sister....you better practice what you preach."  I began to think about all of the emotional energy I have wasted, and began to realize that certain relationships, habits and feelings have drained me.  Relationships that take but never give, habits that waste valuable time, feelings of doubt, worry, uncertainty; none of which are productive. Somehow, they creep in and set up camp in my mind.  They become a part of my everyday, and I allow it all to happen. I allow myself to become completely wrapped up in these things that don't matter.  That, in turn, takes energy away from more fulfilling things like my wonderful husband who would do anything to make me happy, my amazing 18 month old son, my family and close friends that deserve my undivided attention, & commitment to finding a new church.  Not to mention my relationship with the Lord, which I sometimes put in a box on the top shelf because it's not working for me at that particular moment.  I thought that I would be less emotionally drained once I stopped teaching and didn't have to deal with pleasing a boss, co-workers, parents, and 150 students everyday...but I've found that I've simply transferred all of that stress.  It doesn't just disappear...it just manifests itself in other areas.

So I have to wonder, can the law of conservation of energy apply to emotional energy as well? Could it perhaps be worded as "My emotional energy is neither created nor destroyed but transformed from one useless, counter-productive state to another useful productive state" ? I believe so, but it will take work & prayer.

Perhaps this is why God urges us to put on the "helmet of salvation"- Ephesians 6:17....our mind does take an awful lot of beating.