Is Your Battery Dead?

Time to plug in!

Have you ever been talking on the phone while simultaneously looking for it?

Or panicked because you couldn’t find your eyeglasses… only to discover they were sitting on top of your head?

Please tell me I’m not alone.

I also hope there aren’t any bystanders keeping track of how many times I run back into my house because I rushed out the door without something or how often I have to ask Alexa to call my phone so I can find it.

If any of this sounds familiar, we already have something in common.

We are moving so fast these days that being a little scattered has become far more normal than most of us would probably like to admit.

The other morning I was rushing around my house getting ready for work and looking everywhere for the quick charger for my phone when something occurred to me:

Just how much of my life needs to be charged?

My phone.

My watch.

My toothbrush.

My Kindle.

My computer.

The TV remote.

The vacuum.

The lawn mower.

The blower.

The edger.

Even the lock on my front door has a battery.

Come to think of it, nearly every area of modern life seems to have a battery percentage attached to it.

My watch used to get a new battery at the jewelry store every couple of years. Now I charge it practically every day.

My toothbrush used to be something I moved back and forth with my own hand.

Apparently that was far too much work, because now it moves itself and needs a charger.

My front door once opened with a plain old key. Now it has a keypad, a code and, you guessed it, a battery.

Cars used to need nothing more than a stop at the gas station. Now some of them plug into chargers too.

And books?

Books definitely did not need electricity when I was growing up.

Reading is one of my favorite ways to relax, and now I can carry hundreds of books around on one little Kindle, which is wonderful right up until the screen flashes LOW BATTERY in the middle of a good chapter.

Apparently even escaping reality requires a charger now.

We consider our communication devices so important that one charger isn't enough anymore. We have wall chargers, fast chargers, car chargers, charging blocks, extra cords and portable battery packs tucked into our purses just in case we experience the ultimate modern emergency:

2% battery and nowhere to plug in.

As I write this column, my computer is sitting at 46% with a little over four hours of battery life remaining.

Which means that sometime before my day is over, this computer is going to need to stop and recharge. And isn't that also true of ourselves? We often are in need of a way to recharge and we do not take the time to do it.

And I started wondering…

Why do I understand that concept perfectly when it comes to my computer, yet somehow struggle to apply it to myself?

We expect ourselves to keep going.

Working.

Taking care of people.

Answering messages.

Showing up.

Solving problems.

Running errands.

Meeting deadlines.

Remembering appointments.

And finding whatever it is we lost five minutes ago.

Meanwhile, the LOW BATTERY warning is flashing and somewhere inside us alarm bells are going off.

But instead of plugging in, we switch ourselves to low power mode and keep moving.

We all have experienced low power mode.

You're technically functioning…but barely.

Then there are the background apps—all those worries, responsibilities and unfinished tasks quietly draining energy even when we aren't actively thinking about them.

Sometimes we have a bad connection. We're plugged into people, places or habits that aren't actually restoring anything.

Sometimes we need a fast charger—that one person, place or activity that somehow brings us back to life.

And eventually we have to start paying attention to our battery health, because continually draining ourselves to zero has consequences.

Maybe the question isn't: How much more can I do?

Maybe it's: Where is my charger?

I'm learning, Not every empty battery needs the same charger.

Physically drained? Plug into rest.

Sleep.

Take a nap.

Slow down.

Drink some water.

Eat something nourishing.

Move your body.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is give your body what it has been begging you for.

Mentally drained? Unplug from the noise.

Put down the phone.

Turn off the notifications.

Stop scrolling.

Sit somewhere quiet.

Read a book, even if the Kindle you're reading it on needs to be charged first.

Give your brain permission to stop processing everybody else's opinions, problems and updates for a little while.

Emotionally drained? Plug into your people.

Have lunch with a girlfriend.

Sit on the porch and talk.

Laugh until your stomach hurts.

Tell somebody what's really going on.

And, for once, let somebody else listen to you.

Spiritually drained? Plug into God.

Pray.

Read Scripture.

Worship.

Go to church.

Sit quietly.

Sometimes we try every possible way to recharge ourselves and forget to go back to the Source.

Creatively drained? Plug into something that inspires you.

Music.

Writing.

Painting.

Cooking.

Gardening.

Thrifting.

Decorating.

Make something.

Try something.

Do something simply because it makes you feel alive.

Not because it's productive.

Not because somebody needs it.

Just because you enjoy it.

Socially drained? Plug into solitude.

Sometimes people aren't the charger.

Sometimes they're what drained the battery.

I visit with people all day at work, and there are evenings when I get home and realize I am officially "all peopled out".

There is nothing wrong with needing some quiet.

Feeling stuck? Plug into an adventure.

Take a bike ride.

Go for a walk.

Take a little trip.

Drive somewhere you've never been.

Get some fresh air.

Try something new.

Change your scenery.

Sometimes a different view helps us find a different perspective.

Overwhelmed? Unplug something.

This one may be the most important.

Sometimes you don't need to discover another way to recharge.

Sometimes you need to figure out what keeps draining you.

Maybe something needs to come off the calendar.

Maybe a boundary needs to be put in place.

Maybe you need to say no.

Maybe you need to stop carrying something that was never yours to carry.

Because you don't have to wait until your battery reaches 2% before you start looking for a charger.

Imagine if we paid attention to our own energy the way we watch the battery percentage on our phones.

Battery: 30% Lunch with a friend.

Battery: 55% An hour outside with no phone.

Battery: 25% Music cranked up for a full-blown jam session in the car.

Battery: 74% Prayer and a little perspective.

….Battery: 100% Okay, who are we kidding?

I'm over 50. Let's shoot for 78% and call it fully charged.

Maybe that's enough.

Enough energy to laugh.

Enough energy to love people well.

Enough energy to enjoy the life we're working so hard to keep up with.

So charge the phone.

Charge the watch.

Charge the toothbrush, the Kindle, the lawn mower and whatever other gadget in your house is currently blinking at you.

But somewhere in the middle of taking care of all those batteries…

don't forget to charge yourself.

And maybe before you ask, How much more can I squeeze into today?

Ask yourself one better question:

Where do I plug in?