The energy in the room.

I’ve been doing a lot of internal work lately. I think that the winter is good for that. And what you put in, eventually comes out. As I try to ‘level up,’ as my husband would say, I’ve been doing my best to say yes to opportunities that come my way. If I can fit them in, I’ve been doing them, even if they’re not very convenient. And they rarely are, let’s be honest, how many things neatly fit into your schedule just when you were looking for something to do.

The holidays! They’re just crazy no matter what you celebrate. But here’s my Christmas tree.

The past December was a wonderful example of this. December is always crazy! Especially when you work at multiple different companies. Everyone is making holiday plans (some of us have spouses with birthdays right in the middle of December), all of my gyms are working on holiday schedules (one of them had THREE holiday schedules for December and January) and usually you’re working on leaving town at some point to be with family. For some reason every place I worked decided that this was the time for mandatory meetings and trainings. In the middle of those, one of the places I worked was offering opportunities for continuing education.

I could have made it easy on myself and just done the mandatory things, but the truth was, I wanted to attend the continuing education. There were some opportunities that I did have to let go because they simply wouldn’t cram into my schedule, but I did every one that I could. I don’t regret it.

One in particular was on a Sunday, which is normally a day that I am very protective of. Sunday is my day at home with Dean and Jake the cat. It’s the day where we meal prep. We get things together for the coming week. Monday through Wednesday are long, back to back days for me, so Sunday is also a day of preparation for those days. I was very interested in the speaker (Trina Gray) and we were allowed to bring a guest, which made it easier. (For me. Easier for me. I think Dean would have been fine with a few hours to himself to play video games, but he came.)

I’m so glad that I went. The talk was great. She was great at connecting and gave some great recommendations, not only for fitness, but personal growth in general. I have been listening to some of the podcasts that she recommended while I do my own workouts in the morning and I’ve found some of my own. Dean even got something out of it and we had significant discussions on the way home about directions we would like to go in.

One thing that she said really made a difference to me and I’ve been working on it every day since. “You are responsible for the energy that you bring into the room.” If you’re having a hectic day, you’re rushing around, maybe you didn’t sleep well the night before for whatever reason, do you need to bring all of that into whatever room you’re going into? Maybe you do, maybe you’re finally home and you can just let it go, you’re safe. But maybe you’re headed to teach. Maybe one of your students is having a bad day and you bringing that in will just compound what they’re feeling. Maybe you’re heading to an audition and that rushed, frantic energy certainly won’t help your audition (unless you happen to be auditioning for someone who is rushed and frantic, I suppose.)

There’s lots of pictures of me smiling. But only one of me smiling at a unicorn. I figured this was a better illustration of good energy.

Those are some examples, but I’ve also just been trying to be more aware of the energy I put out into the world. When I see someone, do I smile at them? One of the things I love about the south is that people wave at you. People smile and say good morning. It just gives things a nicer feel. When I come home, even if I’m tired and cold and exhausted, I try to smile at my husband and say hello. Sometimes it’s difficult to come in and see everything that hasn’t been done and not comment first on what we need to do before bed, especially if I’m still in ‘go mode’ but I’m trying.

And I feel the difference. It puts ME in a better mood to show up positively for the people in my life. I’m not always successful, I have my moments. If my hands are in physical pain from biking home in freezing temperatures, sometimes the first thing I do when I get home is moan about my hands. When I get past that, and they’re feeling better, then I try and follow up with something more delightful.

Life isn’t always delightful and wonderful. But we can at least be aware of what we’re bringing into everyone else’s when we walk into the room.