Fill 'er up!

Remember when people pulled into gas stations and there was an attendant anxiously awaiting the arrival. He would greet the driver with a smile and check the fluids under the hood. The driver would roll down his window and shout, "Fill 'er up, please!" The attendant smiled and began filling the tank. The driver could then be on their way, full and ready to take on the world again.

Much like the 'good 'ol days' of gas stations attendants, we as people need to be filled up. As the new year came and went, I read many resolutions about getting in shape, trying to eat better, cut out sugar, etc. But never do you read about people wanting to fill up their emotional energy. In order to feel complete and whole, humans need their mental, physical and emotional needs met.

We want to get into better shape so we can look better in our jeans. We want to eat better so our skin glows and we can have more energy to do the activities we enjoy.
But what about when your emotional or spiritual energy gets low. There doesn't seem to be a place where we can pull in and refill. Or is there?

Many of us don't realize what an important part of life our emotional well being is or if we are even running on empty. Wouldn't it be great if you were equipped with a bright orange light or perhaps a beeping sound that alerts you when you need to get filled back up? Well, you were. It's that lacking in your soul. It's that need to go out and consume, to be materialistic, to judge others without so much as a twitch. And we have all been guilty of that. At some point we have all ran a little low. That is your bright orange light that you are empty. That is your beeping sound.

I once wrote an email to my husband at work. I was feeling particular nostalgic that morning and wrote to him about how happy I was and what a wonderful life we had built together. I don't say these things as often as I need to, but when the sentiment hits, I act upon it. He responded with his appreciation and stated that I had "given him the energy he needed to get through his tumultuous day." This made me think. Energy? How did my words fill him with the energy he needed? And why did his response to me make me feel so full?

It's simple. It's love. The giving and receiving of kind words. By expressing my thoughts to him, I shared and showed love and that filled him up emotionally. Now, If I could just erase his guilt of spending time at the gym and I could learn to stop cooking with cream of chicken soup, he would be back on the highway doing 80!

I have found that many things fill me up these days. For one, attending church each Sunday. I am reminded of the things that are important in life and am humbled that I don't have it figured out and could always be doing better. When I pick my children up at preschool each day and their faces light up as they rush to me, this fills me up. When I do nice things for others, acts of kindness, this fills me up. Without these things in my life, I would never completely feel full. Without these things, the exchange of love would never be present.
Every now and again I feel my fluids getting low and I have learned to understand that to get love you must ask for it.How many times have you been on the side of the highway and a gas station attendant shows up with a gas can?

Pull into the gas station and ask the attendant for what you need.

Sometimes the attendant is your spouse, a friend or even perhaps God. Ask and you shall receive. None of us deserves to be running on empty, but in order for your tank to be filled back up, you first must acknowledge the bright orange light and ask the attendant for what you need. And if he doesn't hear you the first time, there is nothing wrong with shouting, "Fill 'er up, please!"