I first heard the term “energy suckers” from an attorney I dated years ago. He applied it to everyone, from his ex-wife to his boss to his daughter’s kindergarten teacher. I think he maybe got it from a book. I think maybe he was also a little tiny bit paranoid.
Today, I had to swallow the bitter pill that I’ve allowed myself to get involved with a couple of energy-sucking business deals. In one case, two years of effort with no reward ended with some resentment today, and possibly a lost friendship. I had been asked to put in “just a few more hours” (always on spec) for a project that would actually take me and three other people at least a week full-time. I declined, the demons flew for a few hours, and now I’m thinking logically again. Life’s too short. There’s not even enough time to do the things I WANT to do to spend my life doing things other people want me to do, too.
Walt Whitman once wrote, “From this moment I declare myself, loos’d of limits and imaginary bonds.” I guess knowing the quote and applying it might not be the same thing. I’m off to read Anthony de Mello’s little gem of a book on non-attachment, because ultimately, that is at the root of spec work and wasted time and time wasting people and feeling at the close of a perfectly nice day like all the energy has been sucked out of me.
To also fall in love with de Mello’s best book, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Way-Love-Image-Pocket-Classics/dp/038524939X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275977040&sr=1-2