The Displaced African

The Art of Never Getting Tired: What Recharges You?

I just got home-I wrote this on 25^th March 2008- and I am feeling REFRESHED. I just came from visiting people that I had not seen in almost a year and I must say that it was exactly what I needed. I pretty much work every single day, or if I’m not working, I am thinking about work. Therefore today I decided I would take a break from working, blogging and studying and go and try to connect with my fellow man.

Just the Medicine I Needed

I landed smack down in the home of S&G (by the way, thanks S and thanks G for being fantastic hosts) and it’s amazing: When I arrived I felt tired, worn out, vacuous and bored. A few hours of having very silly, crude conversation and my cylinders are firing again.

So what is my point with all this?

I am glad you asked: Well, the question is what recharges you? Actually, let me rephrase the question, what has any of the following effects on you:

a) Relaxes you and gives you feelings of peace and relaxation

b) Makes you feel safe and at home.

c) Makes you energetic and gives you boosts of energy I.e. What action gives you more energy than it takes to perform.

To be clear, when I talk about activities that recharge you, I am talking about activities that achieve any of or a combination of the above emotional states.

Remember What Recharges You

Once you arrive in the diaspora, you are away from familiar surroundings and so may forget or lose track of what you used to do back home to recharge. However, I am yet to meet anyone who does not have activities that do not fulfill the above criteria.

The Trick Is…..

The only thing is that a lot of the things that give us these feelings tend to be odd and we may feel odd doing them in such a foreign environment. Today, I have realized yet again (for some reason I always forget then remember, forget then remember…) that three things absolutely ignite me:

a) Novelty/something new and something fresh that I haven’t experienced before or in a long time (I hadn’t visited their home or seen them in a year plus there were other people there that I had never met)

b) Entertaining and Amusing (there is no high quite like making another person laugh)

c) Being significant (actually mattering and being missed by your fellow man. Missed you guys too….:) )

d) Connecting and having conversations with people that are mutually enjoyable: It doesn’t matter if it is deep, introspective conversation or silly, crude, useless conversation. As long as it’s interesting, real and I feel we connect: I’m good.

e) Women (goes without saying really……)

Some Ways People Recharge;Some Odd

Therefore I challenge you to remember what recharges you. Any time this place wears you down: you miss home, you look around and are distressed that you don’t connect with anyone, work and responsibilities are getting you down: break away and recharge. Don’t worry if it is idiosyncratic or unique or odd. I have heard or known people who relax by:

a) Sleeping, waking up, sleeping waking up and doing that for extended periods of time.

b) Going to a park and feeding pigeons and/or fish and/or ducks

c) People who enjoy sleeping under a tree in an open field.

d) People who pray and meditate.

e) People who play board games such as Scrabble, Rummy King, checkers etc

f) Rowing boats on lakes and/or ponds

What If I Can’t Do It?

What if it is something that it is physically impossible to do, such as visit a monument that is only in your country or walk around your old neighbourhood. In that case, investigate, why x activity recharges you. What are the elements of that situation that take you from lifeless to filled with energy. It took me five years of living here to realize that without connection or significance to other people, my energy slowly declines. Once I realized that, I had power. I knew any time I was getting low, all I needed to do was go visit someone I hadn’t seen in a while and try to make them laugh or just connect.

Practical Application

So, why did you like visiting that monument back home…..was it getting away from everyone, was it the majesty or the history of the monument. Perhaps you can find places in the diaspora where you can explore another culture’s rich history and a majesty and go and recharge there. Did you enjoy walking through your neighbourhood because you enjoyed walking amongst people who were like you: find the nearest African neighbourhood or go to an Africa-infested area and walk around there. If that’s not available, find the closest nationality or ethnicity (Maoris, Greeks and Italians all share similar cultural traits for example) and walk amongst them. Keep experimenting and checking in with yourself until you know what recharges you and you can recreate the conditions necessary to recharge. Because you will need to do so on a regular basis.

What If I Never Had Recharging Activities?

There is the off chance that you have no idea what recharges you and have never had any activities that recharge you. If that’s the case, then I suggest that you read my articles on discovering your passions and use the tips to find your recharge activity. The greatest tip of them all: experiment, until you find what works. You are in the most prosperous society in human history, not only financial terms, but in terms of the abundance (over-abundance really) of knowledge, information and experiences. Step out there and try things until you find what recharges you.

Small Side-note

The only thing I would add is: choose activities that nourish you mind, body and soul. I think you can see where I am going with this. Don’t kill brain cells or dehydrate your body with alcohol or drugs so that it needs time to recharge AFTER your alleged recharge session. Don’t go to gossip sessions where you prop up your ego by speaking ill of others but end up no better than when you came in. Do something that will make every part of your person better-rest, relax, energize!

Finally

Your home needs you, you need you, we need you, to be as healthy, clear and strong as you can possibly be. So do something for you today. Leave me a comment , switch off this computer and go out there and recharge your batteries.

See you tomorrow, fresh and ready to go,

Mwangi

PS: Who knew the Google tool bar had spell checking. Expect spelling that resembles educated folk in the near future.

 

Tags: African immigrant, African leadership, leadership psychology, peak performance psychology, rejuvenation techniques

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 2:39 am and is filed under The Psychology of an African Leader. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.