My first full time job as a young adult was as a bank teller. Periodically, the bank auditors would arrive and the atmosphere would become tense. What will they find? Will we be in compliance? Will our manager enforce stricter checks and balances on our procedures? In other words, will we be forced to change?

Today, I’m going to ask you to do a self-audit of your personal energy. We sometimes put off looking earnestly at the state of our lives for fear that we will find discrepancies between what we think is going on and what is really happening. We resist disturbing our habitual comfort zone because it puts more demands on us.

This is an awareness opportunity. One of the ways to become more aware without it creating an earthquake of fear and apprehension is to approach your energy audit with kindness and curiosity instead of allowing your harsh inner critic to take control.

When we approach our personal growth as an opportunity to bring more kindness and compassion as well as increased effectiveness into our lives, there is no need to dread using our intelligence to discover more about ourselves.

Let’s look at the state of your energy and vitality as though they are your personal bank accounts.

The first account is what you use for your day-to-day interactions. If the energy balance is too low or overdrawn, it is because you have too many demands on your current resources. You are lacking replacement energy that can be restored by seeking out new knowledge or new ways of seeing that excites you in both your business and personal life. You may be lacking a firm base of acceptance of your current accomplishments or you may be using too much of your energy pursuing what you think you should do or have to do rather than discovering what you really care about.

An accurate way to determine if this account is in trouble is by noticing if you have become brittle and easily irritated, instead of clear minded and able to make discerning choices that allow you to do what is best for you.

The second account is labeled Too. This account handles daily deposits and withdrawals of energy through your interactions with others. Check to see if you are overdrawing this account because your life is  either too negative or too positive, therefore, you become worn down through too much account activity.

You may have lost the ability to balance this account because you are under-loved or over sought after, under-worked or over-worked, or faced with too much or too little.

Too much pull on this account and a fire rages inside. Too little activity and your fire goes out as though  drowned with too much water. In the face of too much or too little, your heart gets tired, your vital energies dissipate and then an unnamed yearning, a soul hunger, takes over and you begin to feel lost and confused.

The last account is used for the protection of your vital inner core solidity. This is the account where you store your valuable reserves for safekeeping. This safety deposit is meant to protect your spark of wonder, your ability to envision a positive future, your freedom from worry, and your effective management of the demands and bombardments to your peace of mind from the mundane stresses and strains of life.

To establish and maintain a truly substantial, full and abundant inner core you must learn to redeem and safeguard your inner calmness and peace of mind by seeking time to dream, to contemplate, to learn, and to uncover and discover the forgotten, the disowned, and the ignored aspects of yourself.

It takes time and attention to learn how to effectively imagine your future and put to rest the scars of your past so that you can access your full, rich and vibrant inner guidance that is your true wealth and abundance.

Susan is the author of: Beyond Intellect and teaches personal development seminars locally. Reach her at: susanvelsquez.com or [email protected].