What’s your power source?

We all need time to recharge our batteries.  This is a common enough metaphor in everyday speech but how many of us are really that good at monitoring the state of our own inner batteries?  Keeping an eye on what we’re doing that drains them, how best to recharge them, spotting the warning signs if our batteries are running low.

Robyn McMaster has a useful post on the importance of play in recharging our batteries and avoiding burnout. As she reminds us:

"Play increases serotonin, Play increases a hormone of well-being, in your brain."

Her post includes a link to an on-line burnout test at Psychology Today – you can access it here. I took the test out of curiosity.  I’m nowhere near burnout these days but as I ran through the questions I was taken back to times in my past when I have been if not burnt out then at least close to it.  If you think this might be you, please, please do something about it before it leaves you completely empty.  As a starting point I’d thoroughly recommend the work of Dina Glouberman, including her book ‘The Joy of Burnout’.

But we all need things that recharge our batteries, that plug us back into our natural power source.  That includes play, spending time with people we love, doing things that make us feel refreshed and alive, going to places that inspire us.  My own ‘power point’ is the highlands and islands of Scotland.  I found a way to fit in a flying visit to Arran on Sunday.  After a dreich start the sun came out at lunchtime, I had a picnic overlooking the Holy Isle, stretched my legs with a seven mile walk and soaked in hours and hours of bright spring sunshine.  I came back with my batteries in great health: energised, plugged in, recharged.

We’re all different, and we all need different things to spark us, to ignite our passions, to top up our batteries.  When you feel your batteries are running low: do you know where to go to plug into the source?