What We Give Our Energy to Expands

Have you heard of the expression / teaching “What we give our energy to expands?” A recent telephone conversation with my sister brought this teaching to life for me.

I had not spoken to my sister in a while, so I decided to call her and catch up. We began the conversation with my asking my sister what was happening in her life…her husband, son, job, and life in general. After 15-20 minutes of sharing, my sister asked, “So…what’s happening with you?”

I proceeded to share about my family and my work. I then said, “And Sherwin (my partner) and I have been watching the events unfold in our neighborhood.” My sister responded, “What events?” Her question surprised me. I thought… “With all the media coverage, how could you NOT be aware of what is going on my city?!”

I explained to my sister that a convoy of trucks had come to Ottawa to protest a variety of issues. And that the event was resulting in the blockage/closure of many streets and businesses, and causing a level of disruption in city life that I had not experienced in the 20 years I had been living in Ottawa (and no where else in my life). I explained that at the time of our conversation, the area I lived in was under a militarized-like lockdown spanning an area one-two square miles. No one who did not live or work in this area was allowed to come in, and if you lived in the area and wanted to get out, you had to go through checkpoints with armed officers.

My sister responded, “Oh yah, I heard something about that.” And with that response from my sister, she flowed right into another thread of conversation. I followed along, realizing she wasn’t interested in hearing more about the events unfolding in Ottawa.

After the conversation ended, I pondered the conversation I had with my sister. I had moments of thinking how insensitive it was of my sister to not show some level of compassion or concern for what was happening in my life. I was reminded of the saying, “Not in my back yard.” That my sister was living more than 1400km from Ottawa might explain why she had paid so little attention to what was going on. But then I realized what was being shown to me was far deeper than ‘not in my back yard.’

I was allowing my thoughts, my energy, to coalesce and focus on the events unfolding in Ottawa. My sister, on the other hand, was allowing her thoughts to be about something else. Because my thoughts were focused on the events unfolding in Ottawa, that’s where my attention went. And the more energy I gave to this event, the more it expanded in my consciousness.

My sister was not being insensitive, and she was not showing a lack of compassion or concern. She was merely allowing her thoughts, her energy, to be focused on something else.

In both cases, my sister and I were choosing, in that moment, what we wanted to be the focus for us. I was focused on the events unfolding in Ottawa. My sister was focused on events in her life that were equally important to her. In focusing on our respective life events, the events expanded to consume our life.

From this experience I was able to ask myself, “Are my thoughts, my energy, my focus, bringing me peace?” If not, (and they were not), do I want to continue to give my energy to these matters? Where do I want my thoughts, my energy, to be? What will give me peace?

Robert Meagher has been ordained as an Interfaith Minister and certified as a Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Therapist. Robert is the Founder and Spiritual Director for Spiritual Guidance and Co-Founder of the Center for Human Awakening.