Managing the Energy Levels in our Inner "Wells"

Much as we might like to argue and insist otherwise, most humans navigate life based on an "effort vs. reward" system of some kind.

We do things because they feel good, or we get paid, or we gain admiration, or maybe community status, maybe something else. Even the idea of enjoyment is a transaction of sorts.

We may not be consciously aware of it, but whenever the (perceived) "reward" we get for undertaking something seems greater than the effort we had to put in... then we're likely to do it again.

Conversely, if we seem to put in vast amounts of time and effort and "almost nothing" comes back to us, we're unlikely to be participants more than once, or maybe twice.

Unless, of course, we're mentally ill in some way — which is outside the scope of this particular post!

All of this magically seems to work together in a way where we are constantly trying to "balance" the water levels in our metaphorical inner "wells."

Sometimes our wells run dry and that's often when we end up feeling we have been used, perhaos by people, perhaps by a job, perhaps bu life, itself. We keep giving out, and it eternally feels like nothing comes back.

People who are not actually walking in our shoes might offer us platitudes that mostly serve to remind us that they are — indeed — not walking in our shoes.

On some occasions, it's the overall environment that's the problem... as many people here in the USA are discovering these days. Put as simply as possible: It takes more and more "units of effort" to maintain pretty much the same level of life we have typically had. It feels a bit like inexorably sliding slowly towards a precipice, and even while we grab for something to hold onto... all we find is "loose sand" that offers no purchase, at all.

We come face to face with our own "fear of falling," or its equivalent (could be "fear of FAILING?") — the point at which we realize that we are essentially powerless to do much about the impending crash. And so we brace ourselves for the unknown territory ahead.

It's all a metaphor, of course — we can be talking about the end of a job or career; a radical life change, like moving to a foreign country where we know no-one; the undoing of a long-term relationship that has been decaying slowly for years; having to abandon a lifestyle you've clung to for a long time, in hopes that "better times" would come along.

Our inner "demons" we may have to face as part of the process aren't necessarily demons; sometimes they are actually about shedding a mask we'been wearing and standing in truth about who we authentically are, even if it meets with skepticism and disapproval from our ostensible "friends."

Even friends — friends perhaps made under different circumstances at an earlier time in our lives — may become the cause of our inner wells running dry.

And those who actually fill our wells may turn out to come from unlikely and unexpected places. After all, people change over time. Suddenly we discover that things we found offputting at some point in the past have become wildly attractive with the passing of time!

The key is to stay open! Listen with your inner voice...

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

How about you? Have you ever reached that point where it became inevitable that your life would come to a "crisis point?" How did you manage it? Are you happy with the eventual outcome? Would you have done something different? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2025.05.29 23:56 PDT
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