I have earlier written about ENERGY. As Einstein defined it, the human body has a lot of energy.

Energy is transformed from one type to another. Energy is never destroyed. Energy is the sum total of your potential energy (at rest) and your kinetic energy (in motion). Energy can be stored just like a battery.

Diagrammed below is a typical lithium ion battery. The positive end is the cathode and the negative end is the anode. As a rechargeable battery, lithium travels between the anode and the cathode. In between the anode and the cathode is a separator wherein the electrolyte is also contained. The electrolyte is like a bridge, allowing transport of electrons during charging and discharging. As long as there is still enough energy stored and as long as the electrons easily migrate between terminals, the battery will still be working. Since the stored energy is limited; however, the battery will be completely discharged and will never recharge again.

Let us make the analogy of your energy, having a positive terminal (plus) and a negative terminal (minus). In the earlier blog, I gave some very simple equations on addition and subtraction. Addition always increases abundance whereas subtraction depletes, causing an imbalance. Likewise, positive thoughts will increase your positive energy and negative thoughts will decrease your total energy.  It is important that your electrons move back and forth in order to create a balance! Thus, it is always important to RECHARGE yourself by PLAYING, LAUGHING, HAVING FUN, JOKING, RELAXING, CREATING, SMILING, ENJOYING! We must replenish our stored energy by not diminishing all of it, not draining to full discharge such that the battery can no longer recharge!

Positivity also means knowing your strengths (pluses) and weaknesses (minuses). I talked about your MAGIC 10 list which should be all your positive attributes. Since we are not perfect, we should also make our NOT-SO-MAGIC 10 list. It is essential to objectively assess our strengths and weaknesses. To make sure that your list is not subjective, ask your spouse, friend or partner to check it out. Accept criticism as long as it is for your best interests!

Knowing your STRENGTHS and weaknesses is critical to POSITIVE POWER THINKING. Know your WEAKNESSES to be aware of them, to be able to control them and to be able to seek advice to prevent or remove NEGATIVE THINKING. Notice that your strengths are those attributes that give you passion, those which you like to do and those which will make you very successful and happy.

My daughter’s ex-boyfriend was a diligent and very ambitious young man. He was a chemistry major and his goals were admirable. He wanted to pursue a medical degree and a PhD degree at the same time. However, he did not objectively assess his capabilities. He studied the MCAT (medical college admissions test) for six months but did not score high enough yet he applied to the top medical schools in the United States. Sure enough, he did not get into any of these schools. Next, he studied for the GRE (graduate record exam) which is a requirement for graduate school. Although he was a chemistry major, he elected to apply to the neuroscience graduate programs, also at top universities. Again, he only got rejections as this was not his specialty. In addition, trying to gain acceptance in top universities without very high scholarly grades and intellectual aptitude will only result in rejection after rejection. Of course, failing all the time is very discouraging.  If he only aspired according to his strengths without prejudice, then he would have avoided too many failures, loss of time, too much expense and psychological hopelessness. I did advise him to enter the PhD program in chemistry at other universities but my advise fell on deaf ears. He would certainly have been awarded a graduate assistantship at these universities and would have had his doctorate degree by now!

My sons played soccer since age four. They played in a city league that travelled to other cities in the state as well as out-of-state. It was a hectic schedule and also added expense but worth all the time and effort! They were starters; i.e., they played the whole match and had significant positions as center midfielder and center forward. As in any team, some boys played only for a few minutes. For me, it did not seem fair, specially when the parents travel the distance but the coaches were just looking to win the game. I admired the parents of the boys who did not play much but I would have more rigorously checked out other sports where my child would shine. Unfortunately, some parents were adamant to make sure their son was playing soccer, perhaps revisiting their missed opportunity as a youngster! Some years later, one of these boys played baseball instead and he was a star. The lesson herein is that you can always improve on your strengths so you should nurture your abilities because these will make you HAPPILY SUCCESSFUL and you will have PASSION with so much POSITIVE ENERGY!

As in the painting above, net the “negative fish” out of the water and let the “positive fish” replenish and recharge! Time is of the essence (the clock). The seeing eye is an objective evaluation of yourself, all pluses and minuses. The hand plucks out the netted negative fish, letting the positive fish multiply!

EVALUATE YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES!

RECHARGE…POSITIVE POWER THINKING!