You know the feeling, an inner exhaustion that doesn't go away after a day or two.  You're missing your inner spark; you lack the energy and enthusiasm that makes you want to dive into your day.  You're not depressed, but you feel a sense of inner tiredness and you're finding it hard to get motivated.

These are symptoms of being emotionally drained, and the impact can reach across all areas of your life.  In order to regain your emotional energy and equilibrium, you need to know what's causing the problem. 

Here are five common reasons for why you feel emotionally drained.

You receive an encouraging call or message from out of the blue.  A door suddenly opens, or a great opportunity comes your way.  A windfall lands in your lap at just the right time to get you out of a jam.  Multiple pieces come together and fall into place perfectly. 

To someone else looking on, the event that occurs may appear small, perhaps even meaningless.  But to you, it's quite meaningful.  It puts a smile not just on your face, but on your heart, too.  You sense that the stars have aligned in your favour, and it fills you with wonder, joy, peace and confidence.

"Do your own thing and stop caring about what others think." You've likely read or heard this sentiment at some point, if not many times. But is this sound advice? Do you benefit by living your life with no concern or regard for what other people think? 

Despite being well-intentioned, when taken literally or at face value, this sentiment overlooks the reality of who we are as human beings, how we function, and what it takes to maintain healthy, harmonious relationships.

There's a general assumption that as we get older, we grow in our maturity and wisdom.  After all, with all that life experience under your belt, how could you not become wiser and more mature?  But age alone is not synonymous with growth, maturity, and wisdom. 

Just as you've probably met someone who seemed incredibly mature for their age, you've likely also met someone whose age clearly hadn't conferred the level of maturity and wisdom you would have expected.
 
Life experience on its own is no guarantee of maturity and wisdom; it's what you do throughout your life that matters.  Maturity and wisdom go hand in hand with growth.  When you allow yourself to become more receptive to growth in your life, you lay the groundwork for maturity and wisdom to follow.  Therefore, it makes sense to guard against self-imposed limits that stifle your growth.  

Here are some common self-imposed limits to watch out for.

Most people are aware of the placebo effect.  It's when a treatment with no medicinal value results in healing due to the patient's belief, trust, and confidence in that treatment.  Fewer people are familiar with the corresponding nocebo effect, although it's arguably far more important.

The nocebo effect occurs when someone's negative expectations lead to harmful, undesirable, or adverse effects on their health. For example, a patient is told they only have three months to live, and their belief in this as an undeniable and inescapable truth brings it about.

It's important to recognize how powerful the nocebo effect can be.  There are documented cases where a misdiagnosis has caused someone's health to decline rapidly, even to the point of death.  Even though the individual did not have a sever health condition, their belief that they did led to detrimental (and in some cases fatal) outcomes.  We truly need to guard against unwarranted negative beliefs that compromise our health and well-being.  

Here are some areas to watch out for, where the nocebo effect can crop up through negative language and interactions.

“At a certain level of self-awareness, we perceive something supernatural in us.”   
Leo Tolstoy, Writer.
 
The term self awareness comes up a lot these days, but it's not a new concept. 

For thousands of years, self-awareness has been recognized and valued by different cultures worldwide, evidenced through art, literature, religion, and a variety of ritual practices passed down from one generation to another.  But what is self-awareness exactly, and why is it so important?

Do you view yourself as being a bit of a misfit?  If you do, there have likely been countless times when you felt isolated, alone, and disconnected from other people. You may have found yourself thinking life would be so much easier and simpler if you could just be like the folks around you.  
 
Not fitting in with everyone else can be challenging at times, but there's another side to it.  Misfits often possess unique and valuable traits.
 
Here are five great qualities to be found among the misfits of our world.

You're constantly making choices as you live your life each day.  You choose what to focus on and how to spend your time.  You choose who to spend time with and which relationships to invest in.  You choose your response to all the situations and circumstances that come your way. 

Over time, the choices you engage in repeatedly become habits.  A habit is defined as:  "a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior; an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary."

The habits you cultivate matter; they influence the trajectory of your life.

With so much emphasis on performance, achievement, results, and outward appearances, it's easy to become distracted by and overly concerned with the superficial.  On the outside, things look good and you present the perfect picture of success. 
 
Meanwhile on the inside, you feel drained, confused, and unfocused.  You also feel increasingly disturbed as you find yourself becoming spiritually disconnected over time.
 
There are no shortcuts to maintaining good spiritual health; it needs to be nurtured on an ongoing basis.  Here are seven ways to regain your spiritual strength and focus.

Your feelings are part of an amazing and powerful communication system designed to guide and protect you.  While you don't want to be trapped, controlled, or incapacitated by your feelings, you do want to be aware of them and cognizant of what you're experiencing at any given time.

That awareness enables you to assess what's going on in your life so you can choose how best to respond. 
 
As you strive to become more attuned to your feelings, here are seven feelings you should never ignore.