I had a recent scare when I’d completely forgotten to put petrol in the car and was literally nervous if I’d reach my destination car and person intact. I’m not an irrational person in general and the men in my life who like to ‘mansplain’ things to me would do the math (no. of litres of reserve fuel x km/litre minus no. of km to destination) and tell me there’s nothing to be anxious about. But the reserve fuel indicator had been blinking uncannily for quite awhile. I never want to be put in that position ever again.
It’s funny (not in a haha way) but I’ve been feeling like I’ve been running on empty in my own life and at work. I think we all know how that feels. I get up in the morning and I’m just not too sure if I have enough energy to last through the day so I dig deep into my reserve tank and somehow manage to do so. And then the cycle repeats itself the next day and the next…and then I start wondering when will the reserve tank itself run dry? Then what do I do?
I think too many of us (and counsellors are very guilty of this) wait too long for the tank to run dry (and in case you’re wondering I’m no longer talking about cars) before deciding that we have no choice but to do something about it. I mean it’s great if we manage to fill it up just in time before it hits rock bottom but sadly some people don’t manage to. They go into a state of paralysis (much like a car without fuel stalls), they burnout, withdraw and perhaps even become depressed. So it just got me thinking, why wait so long to fill the tank? Why even wait till it goes into reserve?
And there are many things in life that would help us fill that tank again. It might be going to watch a funny movie, taking a long walk, have a good, long conversation with our good friends or just chill a little with some baking show or other. Or it could be on a more philosophical level and we could realign our priorities in life and cast a new vision for why we’re doing what we’re doing. The list of things we can do to ‘refuel’ goes on and it’s different for everyone.
So if you’ve been feeling stressed up and high strung whether it’s about work demands or dealing with conflict at home or in the workplace or something else, ask yourself how you can fill your tank today. Don’t wait till it goes into reserve. Talk to good friends, or a counsellor if you’re already running on reserve and you’re not too sure what you can do about it.
My personal fuel gauge is doing better nowadays (and I also have a full tank in my car by the way). I swam in the river everyday this past week and said hello to the fishes this morning, enjoying the pleasant sensation of saltwater on my skin. It was exactly what I needed to fill my tank.