It is a testimony to the power and purpose of our positive emotions that they can energize us so easily. Pause and think of the opposite: the negative emotions that result from an undercharged or a flat battery. Negative emotions drain whatever energy we have left. If we suddenly face bad news or the loss of a friend or a sickening report, our inner batteries can drain and and we feel the depression of sadness in minutes or even seconds. We even feel it in the pit of our stomach and can become ill if the news is too deflating. We must not underestimate the effect of negative emotions on our emotional health.

It’s Much Like Breathing

Energizing often takes place in seconds, as does de-energizing. Like breathing in and out, the constant oscillation from having an energized spirit to under-powered and back to powered again seems to happen endlessly on some days. We charge and then drain, oscillating with apparent ease.

We notice it in children. A child can be up one moment and down the next. A sudden disappointment can drain them so fast they are left gasping — especially the introverted child.  Have you noticed that an offer of ice cream can miraculously recharge your child in an instant?  But if the cause of their being drained is still around, they can be de-energized, sad, and morose again before the ice cream is eaten.

A “Flat Battery” Threatens Emotional Health

Only the deep emotions of the human spirit charge or deflate with such speed and persistence. Ups and downs are normal for us all.  But we must watch out for the downs that flatten our batteries (or those of our children) and risk our health.

We avoid the constant depression that would deflate us everyday because of this forced need to recharge. When we feel ourselves becoming depressed, we find a way to restore the energy we are losing and we recharge again. But if one deflating experience after another assails us without an opportunity to recharge our failing batteries, we are almost certainl drain of all life-giving feelings.  Then, we are left gasping for refreshment or, in more serious cases, the desire to live.

The loss of self-worth can also rush in like a tide and obliterate our happiness before we know it. And would you believe that even the thought of stress, let alone the reality, can bring on an emptying of our inner power?

Thanks to the urge to recharge, whether we are extroverts or introverts we recharge many times a day.  This saves us from the devastating effects of a flat battery.

Maintain a Charge for Emotional Health

Maintaining a charge is what we must accomplish to create stability in our lives — the calming feeling of being on an even keel. The seas of life will challenge us, at times overwhelm us, or grant us the peace of placid waters one moment and toss us wildly about the next. We must find time to restore our emptied resources and manage both the vagaries and ecstasies of life or run the danger of shipwreck on lifeless shores. It is our responsibility to heed the urge to refresh our dwindling resources or to make sure we see the need and do something about it.  It is critical to our emotional health that we do this.

Why Do We Need to Recharge?

Why do we need this recharge? Lock up an extrovert in solitary confinement and ask them why.  You will get a dramatic answer.  Inability to recharge threatens mental health. It feels like we are dying inside.

To deny the extrovert contact with others or to deny the introvert their recharge in solitude results in their fight for what their spirits need.  Some even resort to violence. For both the extrovert and the introvert, they must achieve a replenishment of needed inner energy.  Then, they feel good again as the life of the spirit returns.

Being an Extrovert or an Introvert Determines How We Recharge

These two categories, extrovert and introvert, have seldom been questioned since they are so easily observed. Carl Jung thought them to be where we focus our energies. More correctly, they are where we go to replenish our energies.

A Correct Solution Brought Emotional Health

A family of four extroverts kept trying to lift the spirit of the youngest child, an introvert. They would burst into her room when she was alone and drench her spirit with lighthearted chatter. The parents would keep insisting that she should show excitement at being with her siblings.  But she would only burst into tears when accused of being antisocial. If they thought their accusations would persuade her to change, they were very wrong. “What is wrong with our youngest child?” they asked themselves without finding an effective solution.

Full Understanding Is Needed

She became more reclusive even though she was seeing a psychiatrist regularly.  And she showed all the signs of depression. When she pleaded for them to build her a room in the detached garage, they consented only because they did not know what else to do to help her.  And they hoped that it might lift her spirits.

Recharge According to Who You Are

Her mother soon discovered she was cutting herself.  When both parents finally sought the correct help, they discovered how they were denying her the space and pleasure of recharging her depleted spirit. Unknowingly, they were only making matters worse by their criticisms of her introversion. Only when they began respecting who she was and started on the road of understanding someone so different from themselves did things change. She bounced back, and only an introvert can imagine the relief she felt when she could recharge in her own way and not be the subject of criticism.

Emotional Energy Recharge Is a Mental Health Requirement

Extroverts and introverts need the refreshment of their very different emotions. Understand the different plights of each and encourage them to take time to meet their truly human need.  Emotional energy recharge is a mental health requirement. The need to feel alive in our spirits is as important to health as the need for our bodies to feel their strength.  Emotional health requires a spirit that feels alive.

My hope is that this book will lead you, as its content has led many others, to be intelligently emotional. If it helps you to develop the intelligent use of your emotions and a rewarding lifestyle, my labor will not have been in vain.  You can access it HERE.  If you are subscribed to our weekly updates, our next issue will provide a link to purchase it with a 15% discount and free shipping.

DISCOVER THE TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE!

Lean into the whole truth.  Discover the truth of who YOU are — the “Real You” — and who your children truly are.  Discover how to best engage your children in finding the whole truth.  INNERKINETICS, Your Blueprint to Excellence and Happiness, is a great resource.

Our team at InnerKinetics is ready to provide that help, too.  If you’d like some assistance, you can request a consultation.  An InnerKinetics consultant will call you to answer questions and schedule your meeting. Schedule an Initial Consultation. If you are more independent and want to cut to the chase, you need not wait for a call back because you can get answers to your questions and schedule your session HERE.