I had to drag myself out of bed today.  Last night was one of those nights that I couldn’t sleep because my mind was racing.  I was bursting with thoughts.  Elaborate conversations were happening in my head.  Not guides or dead people; it felt more like brainstorming.  When the alarm clock buzzed this morning, I gifted myself with three clicks of the almighty snooze button.  Once I finally got up, I poured myself a stiff cup of coffee and David turned on Good Morning America.

“Do you notice what they are doing with their cadences?”  I asked David.

“What do you mean?”

“If you listen to their voices, they are trying really hard to be perky!”

I can’t recall exactly what the show anchors were talking about.  Robin Roberts was happily taking a bite of Key Lime pie.  Lara Spencer was giggling while doing an entertainment report, but it was the upbeat tonal quality to their voices that hooked me.  The more I focused on them, the more awake I started to feel.  It’s as though their energy was saying “aren’t we all having fun on this spring morning!”  Admittedly, David and I started to mimic them in a slightly exaggerated tone.

“I’m going to go brush my teeth after these messages!”  David said in his best perky newscaster voice.

“Studies show that I should put my sneakers on for the gym!”  I replied.

I was in a good mood when we arrived at the gym.  Monday’s spin class is taught by one of my favorite instructors, and I was looking forward to her upbeat energy.  As I opened the door and excitedly looked to the front of the class, I realized that we had a substitute.  She was a lovely woman who I guessed to be in her mid 40’s.  The word that popped into my mind was that she seemed nice.

She introduced herself to the class and gave a few tips to new students.  While listening to her I started to feel a little tired.  She wasn’t doing anything particularly strange.  She gave your average lecture on how to position yourself, keep hydrated, adjust your position if your back hurts; all that good stuff.  But something was off for me.

As class began, I found myself becoming more and more bored.  There was something about the cadence in her voice I didn’t find inspiring.  Technically she was doing and saying everything correctly.

“Push yourself.  You can do it.  You are doing great.”

But I didn’t believe her.  In fact she was boring me to death.  I hadn’t realized how much I look to the instructor for energetic inspiration.  Some teachers inspire me to work harder, just by their energy and their smile.  This can mean the difference between actually enjoying the gym and utterly dreading the experience.  My personal reaction to this teacher was that every minute felt like an hour.  It became so torturous that I had to close my eyes.  I started to center myself and decided that I had a choice; I could complain about this boring teacher, or I could search for a different source of inspiration in the room.

Slowly, her voice started to drift away as I focused on the Jennifer Lopez dance song thumping loudly.  Corny as it may sound, it actually started to work.  For the remaining 35 minutes of the class, I started to do my own thing.  If the beat of the music told me to sprint, I would sprint.  If the song seemed like it was time to add more resistance, I did so.  Occasionally I would notice the instructor look at me with a puzzled expression.  I laughed at what I imagined to be her thought bubble saying, “What is that whacko doing?”  But I was having a great time and needed more energy than she could provide.

What amazes me is how affected we all are by the energy of our surroundings.  It reminds me of going to school as a child.  I did well that year if I had a teacher that was particularly engaging and loved their career.  My grades would drop if I had an unhappy teacher that hated their job, or worse, was apathetic.

I realize that we can’t blame our feelings or personal performance on the energy of other people.  As a psychic, however, I think it’s important to understand that everyone’s energy affects us.  We have a choice as to what energy we absorb in our environment.  I can be in a stressful mood, when suddenly our dog Bernie will come bounding into my office, drop a slobber-soaked toy onto my lap and my mood instantly changes.  Dogs are incredibly effective at helping to pull us out of a bad mood.

On my radio show I specifically try to project joy and enthusiasm in my voice.  I do this not only for myself, but for the listener as well.  I feel that if I can lift people’s spirits for even a moment, then I am doing my job.

This week I invite you to examine the energy in your environment.  Try to notice the sounds that raise your energy, and then observe the ones that drag it down.  This can be anything from a person’s tone of voice, to a song on the radio.  If you can learn to focus on the positive influences, you will have a powerful and free tool to give yourself a little pick me up.