Your Fuel

What fills you up?

What gives you energy?

When do you notice that you are doing things with a skip in your step and a smile on your face?

As I reflect on these questions, I may answer with a list of things that fill me up like:
• Exercise
• Walking and talking with a close friend
• Wearing a new outfit
• Getting much needed rest
• Prayer or meditation
• Accomplishing something important
• Receiving a compliment

This list of what fills us up, our FUEL, will be different for each one of us and very worthwhile to think about especially if you are tired and want more energy or you are in the midst of one of life’s transitions.

There is one thing, that I propose, that is on all of our lists. It is a universal “fuel-er”. No, not money or winning the lottery! It is “living out our life’s intention”. Each one of us has a special gift or a unique calling. When we step into it and truly act on it in our life, it feels great. We feel alive. When we honor this gift and are in our life “being” this gift or acting on it, we feel full, content, joy-filled. We have energy.

Recently, I attended a training session on Screamfree Parenting. I spent 2 and ½ days with a wonderful group of women. We took time out to put together a list of the people we admired and we looked at the qualities that we admire in others.
We took the qualities that spoke to our heart the loudest and put these qualities on a note card. One of my values (or qualities I admired) was “to inspire”. The facilitator let us know that these qualities are what we value and what’s most important. These qualities are who you are. Then he challenged me and said, I think yours is leader. At first, I noticed myself shying away from this term. It sounded too strong. And then, I realized. He was right. I love being a leader and when I’m not, I feel suffocated! Mine is leadership and being a leader. When I’m not leading and I’m on “the sidelines” in my life about something, I have low energy. When I’m leading the way about something I am passionate about, I feel strong and full of energy.

Go ahead then … answer the questions! Take some quiet time to reflect and start noticing what fills you up. You might just name your life’s intention in the process. And when you do, go out and be it or do it!