Is it worth your energy? And can we just decide how to spend our energy? What influences this, and how can we become more authentic and empowered in directing our energy?
Your energy is your greatest resource available to you. Money, time, skills, and other commodities are all available resources (and in truth, also energy), but by far your greatest asset is your inherent life force energy.
This energy allows you to respond to situations, people, and events, negotiate life, and live your most authentic, fulfilled life. So, to be efficient in living a fulfilled life, you would want to direct this precious resource to that which really matters, right?
So, it would make sense to just say “don’t sweat the small stuff”, “follow your bliss”, “let it go”, or “just decide to not let it affect you” (or a million other phrases that we mostly parrot).
Not so easy.
What my journey with Archetypes has taught me, is that you cannot just decide not to spend energy on something. It all depends on the nature of the Archetype you embody, how in touch you are with the gifts it presents, and how deep the wounding of the archetype runs (they all have wounds!).
A step back….what are Archetypes and why is it important? This article does not cover that extensively as it assumes a basic understanding, but suffice to say that they are universals pattern that we all recognise, that your soul expresses in this life. We all have it, and we all embody multiple patterns, although there would be certain key patterns of expression that we are predisposed to individually. By becoming aware of the key archetypal patterns in you, contrary to what people may think, is not limiting, or attempting to define you or box you in. Far from. It helps you to understand your patterns of behaviour and your “truths”, within the Universal Laws of Truth. If you know the laws, and understand the patterns, you can find optimal movement within it.
There is a big difference between the Universal Laws of Truth, which we cannot change, and our own individual truths, which are changeable, subjective, and variable, and it is important to know the difference.
I will demonstrate this on behalf of two very different, yet ordinary examples.
Case 1
Your favourite store or service that you regularly use as a huge price-hike.
What is “truth” in this situation?
That prices have increased. That is the only “fact”.
What are your options? You can question it, get irritated, applaud it, be happy about it, sulk about it, post on social media about it, accept it, tell them about how it affects you, or decide that spending energy on this is not worth your while, and move on – with buying or not buying.
With all these options you use your energy in different ways and for different reasons, and your archetypal patterns will influence the response.
For example:
- If the Rebel archetype is dominant, a person may question this.
- Where a more Child-like archetype is at play, they may not even notice.
- If the Victim steps in, they may feel hard done by.
- The Visionary may think it is justifiable and commend the store’s business sense.
- The Connoisseur is likely to value the merchandise even more.
- The Conspiracy Theorist will feel there is something sinister going on.
- The Negotiator may feel called to scrutiny quality more.
- The Critic may want to chat to the store owner.
And so on, and so forth….
All and any of these default behaviours, is the “truth” for that particular archetype, in a given situation. Not the Truth, but their truth.
Based on the maturity of our archetype, in other words, how in touch we are with their gifts and wounds, determines how autonomously we can apply our energy. In other words, knowing the archetypal patterns of behaviour, gives us agency to consciously direct our life force. We know our truth in any given situation, without having to force or attach to it, and can direct our energy or life force more efficiently to that which really matters to us. Until that awareness of the archetypal patterns within us is present, even if we “choose” to direct our energy, it will be forced – resulting in effort, struggle, and often, continuous pushing against our better knowing. We will continue to feel we self-sabotage our good intentions and best efforts.
Case 2
A close friend shares how somebody had let them down.
What is “truth” in this situation? That your friend has felt let down (note – not that they have been let down!). Their truth is that they feel let down.
What are your options? You can be sympathetic, outraged, side by your friend, tell them to snap out of it, ignore it, give advice, listen with curious detachment, or decide that spending energy on this is not worth your while. Yet again, your archetypal patterns will drive your response. And somebody else’s archetypal patterns may cause them to condone, condemn, or feel indifferent about your response. None is the truth; they are all our individual truths.
What is important, is to know what our default behaviour is. And the more aware we are, the more we can “catch” this default behaviour, and decide if it is worth it. Of course there are many factors influencing this default behaviour, but nevertheless, it is the default. By bringing awareness to it we can consciously choose how best to direct our life force energy.
And so, we become more authentic.
Here’s the thing. Authenticity is not always about voicing or speaking (or acting out) your “truth”, it is about being honest about the impact an event/person/situation has on your energy, and to find movement within that. The journey to authenticity (or “finding yourself”) is about learning to respond with the least amount of impact on your natural energy. In other words, to get to know your archetypal patterns so well, that within this framework you can decide whether spending energy on something is worth it, or not, in whatever way, shape, or form.
We then respond in a mature and empowering way and awaken the more healed version of the archetypes within us.
And over time, in stead of a conscious effort, we flow more with what life presents.
#authenticity #archetypes #transformationalcoach #LiveYourTruth
About the Author:
Celeste Du Toit is a Transformational Coach, Workshop Facilitator, and Sou-full Storyteller based in Westville, KZN. Her approach is holistic and body-centered to help identify and change beliefs, patterns, and behaviours that are keeping us stuck, and her work appeals to people who take responsibility to live their highest potential and truth. She uses NLP, Family and System Constellations, Kahuna Massage and Bodywork, and deep questioning in her repertoire. In a grounded, focused, practical, yet highly intuitive and empathic way, she supports and inspires you to authentically create more joy and mastery in your life.
With a background in the corporate arena and a sought-after 20 year business background, she changed gear in 2012 to live with more passion and heart, and has since been guiding people through coaching and bodywork, self-awareness and empowerment programs, workshops and retreats.
Connect here:
FB: LiveYourTruthWithCeleste/
IG: @liveyourtruth_with_celeste
