Running on empty.  We know it doesn’t work for cars, and we’re finding out it doesn’t work for people, either.  

After a very tough couple of years, you might be looking ahead to the new year wondering, “Do I have what it takes to meet the demands and challenges this year may bring?”

A few months into the pandemic, I (Brittni here), was listening to author and counselor, John Eldredge, discuss the impact a global trauma such as the pandemic has had on us.  To help us determine how we were doing in the moment, he asked, “If you were to hear another pandemic had just started and we have to go into lockdown again, what would your response be?”

Crazy enough, this was prior to the delta and omicron variants that essentially made us feel like the pandemic HAD started all over again!

It can be helpful to gauge our response to his question (or to hearing about the emergence of new variants) to see how full our energy reserves are.  You see, when we experience trauma, our reserves that help us deal with the normal stressors of life get depleted in the process of helping us get through whatever hard season we’re in.  

Which means everything feels harder to do than it normally would.  Your job feels tougher, even if you love it.  Being a healthy person in your relationships feels harder, which puts a strain on them.  Finding methods to cope that don’t truly fill you up and bring you life becomes the norm (AKA “Why am I opening my Instagram app AGAIN?”).

If you’re finding you don’t have the reserves to show up the way you want to in the new year, is there hope?

There’s always hope.

The beauty of a new year is that it gives us two very helpful things:

1. A time to reflect on the past year.  We can celebrate the growth and practice gratitude for the good things, as well as grieve the losses.
2. A fresh start to live differently.  As we reflect on the past year, we can think about what we need to carry forward and what we need to change to fill our reserves back up for the coming year.

To replenish your reserves, you need to consider both what depletes them and what restores them.  You can use the prompts below to get you thinking:

Once you understand what depletes and replenishes your energy, you can begin taking the steps to restore your reserves and set yourself up for a year where you’re running on full instead of empty.

Photo Credits:
Photo by Ivan Mihajlovic on Unsplash
Photo by Alex Gruber on Unsplash