The Bright Side - here in Ulverston.

This is the sequel to. . . . . a sick society

At a recent discussion at the Lantern House,  I was reminded that we all have four basic assets:

Time : you could argue that we all have equal amounts of this in any one year.

Physical energy : we all have differening amounts of this which is also true of :

Money.

The fourth however I believe is by far the most important :

Emotional energy.

We all seem to understand what this means.

For me it represents the energy that gets me out of my chair (or bed) and provides the impetous to get up and do something.

It is often the opposite of the feeling that leads us to wanting to watch television. Here we get into a state where we have no emotional energy and want someone else, no matter how remote to take over our lives.

Many of us have masses of emotional energy to get out of work quickly, get in the car, know the fastest route home, drive the car to be quickly through the intersections and along the road , know where to park most effectively, get into our home and sat in our favourite chair with a drink and then . . .

Vroomf - someone pricked the bubble. We've collapsed in a heap of inaction and grateful for the fifthrate attention of 'the box.

That's it for the reserve of emotional energy - it's pretty near empty. This is the feeling I associate with depression.

So where does the next top up come from?

Does it come from television?

Or elsewhere.

If it comes from elsewhere why don't we cultivate it?

I suspect there's a way of maintaining this reserve of emotional energy so that we move with satisfaction and energy from one self motivated activity to another.

I now have some pressing tasks that I want to do before continuing !

But I'll be back with the concept of "prosociality"   a term coined by David Sloan Wilson for something that is widely practiced in active communities. Wilson is a professor of biology and anthropology at a NY State university.

I like it because it's what I attempt to put into practice - it's good to find someone who validates ones thinking.