Watching the Monday night football game I am reminded of how much I love the football season. I love the sport, yes, but the energy associated with football season is powerful. In general I love anything associated with energy. I recognize that in the classroom when assigning fun assignments that get them moving and talking and having fun.
Part of this idea of empathy is that good energy feeds me just as bad does. Garbage in Garbage out, I say. However, with the good energy it is less garbage than it is the rocket fuel I need to succeed. I think this is the idea behind Monsters Inc. Spoiler there, but if you have not seen the film then shame on you. Shame.
There is no shame in feasting on positive energy. There is no shame in being happy and feeling better when others are happy as well. That is why I prefer to put myself in situations where the people around me genuinely embrace joy and I try to cultivate that in myself and in my environment. On the other hands, I am constantly stuck in situations where it is the other way and I find myself crawling deeper into myself and enjoying that long lost little stick figure person inside of me that is always so happy and fills me with such joy.
So the message of tonight is this: Clamp onto the energy around you but make sure it is good energy. Be certain that energy is the kind of stuff that fills you with joy and use that joy as power to bring your heart to its truest potential, which is to cast a light on the world and make this brief existence worthwhile.
I suppose the other side of the message is to avoid the darkness, because it can swallow you whole. Avoid those who live in that dark because often the only thing to bring them joy is to pull you down with them, reminding themselves that they are right to be so dour.
They are not.