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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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HOW'S YOUR GRID?
Recently, after a government alert about possible terrorist activity at airports, much of the central and northeast U.S. and parts of Canada experienced a sudden blackout. With millions of people literally in the dark, airport traffic came to a halt. Although no terrorist activity occurred, the power grid had shut itself down with a spectacular domino effect, and cut off electricity to cities from the Midwest to New England and in southeast Canada. According to engineers, a power grid is made up of three components: generators which put power into the system, lines that carry the power, and consumers who draw power from it. If too much electricity goes into the system, the lines cannot carry it. If the lines fail, the system will go down. If consumers put too much demand on the grid, it will falter. When any of these events occur the grid shuts itself off to protect everything connected to it. New York City was hit especially hard by the power outage, and an engineer was asked to explain why. He said that the grid is like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces in the middle have others connecting to it on all sides, giving them support and stability. New York was located on a corner piece and lacked support on two sides, making it more vulnerable. Human behavior is much like a power grid. If we generate too much power into our interactions, we burn ourselves and others out. If we're too needy, we can drain the system with our demands. If we don't get support for ourselves from all our different sides, we become more vulnerable. So, like the power grid, we humans have to maintain balance in our lives to keep our energy flowing in and out without shutting down the system.
© 2003 David Bentley David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world. You may contact him at 360.378.8436 by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com |
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