“Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,” said Walt Whitman, but we often don’t realize it. Engulfed in our worries and to-dos, dragged along by our daily stress, it’s difficult to pay attention to all the wonderful details happening around us.
If we add fear to this – fear of failing, of making mistakes, of not being good enough, of being rejected, of not being understood – it’s not difficult to realize that we’re wasting our energy uselessly, ignoring the opportunities that pass us by and, even worse, ruining our lives.
How many opportunities have you lost because of fear?
They say that in a faraway land at war, there was a terrifying king. When he took prisoners, he didn’t kill them but instead took them to a room with a group of archers on one side and an immense iron door on the other, over which were carved figures of skulls covered in blood. In that room, the king would have them form a circle and say:
– You can choose between dying pierced by my archers’ arrows or passing through that mysterious door.
Everyone chose to die at the hands of the archers. At the end of the war, a soldier who had long served the king approached the sovereign and said:
– Sir, may I ask you a question?
– Tell me, soldier – the king replied.
– What was behind the horrible door?
– Open it and see for yourself – the king encouraged him.
The soldier fearfully opened the door, and as he did so, rays of sunlight streamed in and brightened the air. He was surprised to discover that the door opened onto a path that led to freedom.
The king simply explained to him:
– I gave them the power to choose, but they preferred to die than risk opening this door.
How do you manage your psychological energy bank?
We all have an “energy bank,” and that psychological energy isn’t unlimited. You can’t draw on all the energy you need to devote to your fears, insecurities, and worries, hoping to have even more energy to pursue your projects, dreams, and hopes.
Spending a large portion of your psychological energy feeding fears, anxieties, and uncertainties is the equivalent of throwing money out the window. On the contrary, investing that energy in your dreams and the things that truly make you happy will help you build a more fulfilling future. If everything is so simple, why do we continue to waste our energy uselessly?
The problem is that we continue to think of psychological energy as an unlimited resource. We don’t fully understand the importance of channeling that energy efficiently. However, it has been shown that self-control, for example, is depleted by exerting it. That’s why, when we get home at night after a long day of exercising self-control, we feel irritable and bothered by anything we would have otherwise overlooked. It’s also why, after following a strict diet, we fall into a period of compulsive overeating.
When you finally understand that psychological energy isn’t an infinite resource but must be used wisely, you can begin to think about how to allocate it so you can feel better and achieve your dreams.
Fear blocks your psychological energy
Fear is an emotion that can be paralyzing, blocking all psychological energy and preventing you from using it to achieve your goals. Unfortunately, many people spend their lives victimized by fear. The fear of the unknown and leaving the comfort zone they’ve built prevents them from exploring new horizons—the very horizons where their dreams lie.
If you have big dreams but feel stuck for some reason, it’s probably because you’re spending too much energy feeding your fears, insecurities, and uncertainties. Instead, you should understand that to achieve any truly important dream, we must be willing to take a certain amount of risk.
A good strategy to redirect this psychological energy is to project yourself into the future by drawing step by step the goals you want to achieve, instead of getting stuck feeding different types of negative thoughts.
Whenever these thoughts arise, understand that it’s fear speaking, and don’t allow it to rob you of such precious energy. Then the miracle you’ve been waiting for will happen – that miracle that is often within reach but never materializes because you’ve lacked the courage to embrace it.
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