Maybe you have noticed it after a long lunch with a friend, or ten minutes in the hallway at work. Some people leave you lit up. Others leave you ready for a nap. Connie H. Deutsch has a name for the second kind, and a simple experiment you can try today.
Key Takeaways
- Some people leave you energized and others leave you drained. Noticing the difference is the first step.
- Connie calls the people who drain you zappers, a term she met while teaching metaphysics.
- Not everyone is affected by the same zappers. One person can drain you and energize someone else.
- Try the experiment: list who lifts you and who tires you, then sit five quiet minutes beside someone and notice how you feel.
Have you ever noticed that when you are with certain people, you feel so alive, so energetic, but when you are with other people, you feel so drained, so tired?
When I was teaching a course in metaphysics, I ran across an obscure term called zapper. Nowadays, we think of a zapper as an electronic device. The dictionary defines it as
- (a) an electronic device designed to attract and kill insects,
- (b) a person who habitually changes channels (as to avoid commercials)
- (c) a remote control device used for zapping. But when I was teaching that course, the term, zapper, was used to define people who drained all your energy, sucking the life force out of you.
One of the things I liked to do with my students was to experiment with metaphysical concepts and discuss the various ways of how we can incorporate spiritual theories into our everyday life. Having just discovered the zapper concept, I had everyone experiment with it. I gave them the assignment to make a list of the people who made them feel energetic and the people who made them feel tired, and, of course, I made my own lists.
The results were amazing. We all discovered that we were surrounded by people who could invigorate us and people who sucked the life force out of us.
If this was just a question of staying away from the zappers and only having friends who made us feel alive, it would be easy to do. Just start yawning or feeling like your brain was getting fuzzy, and make a strategic retreat. But, like most things in life, that’s not easy to do.
Your boss or your teacher could be a zapper and your options for a strategic retreat are limited. It should also be noted that not everyone is affected by the same zappers as you are. One person could zap your energy but make someone else feel alive, and vice versa.
About the time that I was making these experiments with my students, I had just acquired a new client. She was beautiful, intelligent, interesting, and had a good sense of humor but every time I was with her, my energy level went down the drain. It didn’t matter if she called me on the phone or came to my office, the results were the same. I was so exhausted I could have slept for a century. Eventually, I referred her to someone else because I was always too tired to give her the kind of help she deserved.
Make your own experiment. Spend five minutes next to someone without either of you saying a word and see how you feel. At the end of those five minutes, a zapper will have a burst of energy and feel great and you’ll feel as though you had just run a 25K marathon, ready to collapse from exhaustion.
If you would like schedule a counseling session with Connie go to: Book a Session with Connie
Written by Connie H. Deutsch
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Where to Go Next
If this one rang a bell, these pages on Next Level Soul can help you tend your own energy.
- What Are the 7 Chakras and How Can You Balance Them? A plain guide to the body’s energy centers.
- Earthing and Grounding. A simple way to feel steadier in your body.
- How to Meditate. A beginner guide to quiet time.
- Creating a Sacred Space at Home. A corner to reset after a draining day.
- Holistic Wellness. Mind, body and spirit in one guide.
