Loan shark living  ~ energy management

There used to be a thing on telly about people who were Spendaholics. I loved it because they were very honest and there was some trendy expert who made them acknowledge their irresponsible and often unconscious spending; see their patterns of emotional thinking and retrained them to contentment, generosity and budgeting. They had too much freedom, little self-discipline and no thought for the long term. It was fascinating. When I stopped being judgemental about these lost souls, something rather remarkable occurred to me. I was living in the same way with my limited energy. I often ran up large credit card debts; couldn’t stop spending energy I didn’t have and then the loan sharks would come looking for me and beat me up ~ metaphorically. WOW!

There is a spectrum of trouble when it comes to debt. There is the respectable part of mortgages, paid off credit cards each month, with emergency funds and sinking funds to plan. The range seems to cover loan sharks, bad loans, terrible credit card interest rates, normal credit cards, overdrafts, credit unions and borrowing from your Mum! I asked one of my clients about how often their energy was overdrawn with a heavy fee and they said, all the time! So, I coined the phrase, this is loan shark living.

We must get into the nice credit union kind of choices even though we will feel restricted, we will avoid the desperate payback of the interest. Sometimes we go into things knowing that we might incur some debt but with the wisest plan, good back-ups, rest before, during and after an event, we might be able to avert unnecessary trouble. No one likes a loan shark.

This became even more useful as the analogy for spoonies was a difficult thing for some of my clients to remember and use. The money was much easier ~ you’ve got a tenner for the day and everyone else has £100. That needs mega careful managing.

One of the most endearing young people on that show said that every time they ran up a credit card debt that their Dad just paid it off. How I longed to be able to have my energy debts paid off in one quick swipe. But I realised that we had more in common than I realised. I had to take full responsibility for my energy output; be grateful for the small amounts of income I had and make the most of any choices. I had to make the most of my health.

At the end of the programme they came back to the young spendy souls and I can remember one lovely girl who had been the most flamboyant spender and she was riding a bike instead of going shopping. She was liberated from too much freedom and self-discipline. A wise plan was her newest power tool for life. If only illness could be that simple but there are lessons for us all. Richness comes from relationships with us and others. Reliable energy can be cultivated when we don’t take it for granted, plan with precision and realise that time can pay off debts with consistent application. Pacing isn’t easy but it is a powerful tool we must use to avoid relapses or crashes.

At the centre of spending is the question ~ is this wise? Is it wise for me today and tomorrow? I wish you good spending my friends with easy choices, good guidance and kind support.