Is Emotional Energy the Currency of Personal Power?
Updated: Apr 11
As human beings, we are constantly looking for ways to get emotionally charged up because that is what makes us feel alive. Our emotions provide us with evidence about where we stand regarding our needs and drives. They give us information about how much or how little we are getting of what we want in life, and they let us know whether our approach to getting these needs met is working. We feel powerless when our emotional needs go unmet and like royalty when they’re met.
When there’s a buzz of emotional energy coursing through us, it feels like everything is possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s negative or positive; anything that increases our emotional charge will make us feel more empowered. When our emotional energy is high, we tend to feel more powerful because it’s easier for us to take intense action that aligns with who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world.
On the other hand, when our emotional energy gets low or runs out, this is often a sign that we’ve lost touch with our sense of purpose or that we’re feeling disconnected from our wants and needs. We end up feeling impotent, overwhelmed, frustrated, and depressed — all signs of powerlessness.
People who get emotionally charged up stay inflow; they feel like everything is working and life feels effortless. When these individuals come to a difficult situation, they go right into the problem to sort it out. They have an intrinsic curiosity about themselves and their lives that compels them to take action. In contrast, people who don’t invest much emotional energy in what’s going on inside themselves tend to be lethargic or apathetic in their approach to life.
One way I help myself and others to get emotionally charged up is to ask empowering questions. It’s important to steer away from the victim-like questions that we so often use, such as:
“What can I do about this?”
“This always happens to me!”
“I’m afraid of making a mistake!”
These questions keep us vulnerable and prevent us from taking strong action. We need to instead ask ourselves something like:
“How can I handle this?”
“What would you love to do here?”
“What am I committed to doing?”
These empowering questions move us forward, whereas the former tend to leave us feeling stuck. In my experience, getting stuck in life is just as easy as getting unstuck. You have to lose your sense of curiosity about yourself and life, which is often preceded by losing touch with your emotional energy.
When our emotional charge is high, we tend not to feel so alone, even though everyone feels this way at times. I call my higher self the “home team.” We all have a home team inside us that’s interested in taking care of us and helping us live life well. This part of ourselves is curious about what will make us happy and fulfilled. It wants to learn how to do this effectively and happily because it loves us unconditionally.
Our “home team” loves us so much that it will give up on us when we don’t love and take care of ourselves, which means not investing enough emotional energy into what’s happening inside us. It wants to see how much power we have to handle things independently because self-empowerment is key to empowerment.
