Sometime in September 2006, while I was attending a seminar in Hong Kong, I met an American who was participating in the same seminar as me. In the midst of our conversation, I caught a phrase from him – and since then it has often been part of my speech and I have even coined up a name for it.  

He is a person who is interested in political affairs, especially that of his own country. As you may be aware, there are two political parties in the United States of America: the Republican and the Democrat. He supports one party and not the other and was very vocal about his views. As he shared with me his views on this "very-easy-to-explode topic", he mentioned something which caught my attention.

It was just a simple remark, which I shall paraphrase: "I no longer waste my energy criticizing but I use my energy in a positive way." This casual remark of his certainly set me thinking. Since then, I have often adopted this phrase: "Do not waste your energy to generate a negative emotion. Use your energy to generate a positive emotion."

A sense of frustration, unfairness, helplessness and discouragement are often part and parcel of our journey on this earth.  When we are going through such a stage, it is very easy for us to end up to be more complaining, less co-operative, easily distracted and to generate a deeper negative emotion. Somehow it is like a whirlpool – churning round and round and we get sucked deeper and deeper into the sea of defeatism. Our views towards life become depressing and a dark cloud of discouragement often set in.

If you would reflect carefully, a lot of energy is often used to voice our unhappiness, to show our frustration, or to demonstrate our negative feelings that were pent up in us. Just think for a moment – if this energy is channeled in a positive sort of way, very likely we may end up with some solution to overcome the difficulties at hand. At the very least, life will not be a whirlpool of unhappiness and helplessness.

I am not advocating a "happy-go-lucky, all's well, life's good every time" kind of altitude. We do not live in fairly tales. As long as we are in this world, our paths will be filled with thorns and thistles. But I am suggesting that since we are using our energy, why not use it towards the right course? If the same amount of energy is used to generate a positive and not negative emotion, I certainly believe that much good will come out of it.

My dear readers, I am not suggesting that we should keep every hurt locked up in our hearts…..we thank God that He does provide us with trusted friends. Certainly, to have good friendship is a gift from our Maker. But I am suggesting that each time we feel defeated, frustrated or discouraged, instead of burying ourselves deeper into the mire, why not tell ourselves: "If this same amount of energy is used in a right way, how much good could have been achieved!"

We can choose to invest our energy in a right way. In a hostile environment, I can choose to bring my smile to those around me, rather than complaining that everyone is unfriendly. I can choose to focus on what I can do within my ability, rather than what I cannot do. I can choose to maximize my time and produce better output, rather than gossip about how terrible the boss is.

Since we are spending our energy, let's spend our energy on the right course. When we do that, two things take place. Firstly, we do not get sucked into a whirlpool and thereby creating a deeper sense of helplessness. Secondly and positively, we often find that our talents and our creativity are put to greater use. When these happen, we often find that the situation is not as helpless as we first thought.

I will like to leave my readers with this word that I coined up: POET.

It means – POsitive Emotion (or Energy if you prefer this word) & Talent. Next time, when you feel you are about to set off your energy towards a negative emotion, think of POET! Be a POET - write your life with positive notes!                           

Inspiring Life!