(Today’s Words of Advice from Fuyo Haruna are an excerpt from a lecture at one of her gatherings.)

Participant: I understand your point that we need energy to live happily with a sound mind. Is the energy given from Nature?

Fuyo: Right. Do you know what it’s like to ‘run out of energy’ or to ‘be filled with energy’?

Participant: Sure, I do.

Fuyo: You can tell whether you have energy or not by looking into how you are feeling at a particular point in time?whether you are in a happy mood or in a blue mood. Then, a likely question would be, how we can get energy? One way to do it is to bring yourself close to nature. Even when saddened, you would probably take a deep breath and whisper to yourself, “How refreshing!” on seeing the ocean stretching away into the distance or lines of green mountains unfolding in front of you. Then if, a long way off, a boat or white waves came into view, a happy feeling would surely come over you: you’d no longer be depressed. Changes in your heart like this are telling you that you’ve received energy from Nature, no matter who you are and how you are feeling. On receiving that powerful energy?or vibrations?from Nature, one is sure to become fit both physically and mentally.

Conversely, when you are in a crowd of people, you can run out of energy; you may find yourself exhausted, for example, when coming back from a shopping center or an amusement park where a huge number of people gather. I’m sure you feel drained when having people constantly near you, when working for a stressful company, or when living in a suffocating atmosphere ?having to mingle with people, people, people?with little greenery or nature near you. If you live like that every day, it’s inevitable that you use up substantial amounts of energy?just the opposite of what happens when you are in the middle of nature.

So, I would say: “Exactly, yes.” to the question whether we can get energy by going out into nature. Many of us, however, have to make a living by placing ourselves in crowds of people. So I want to show you how to acquire energy in such an environment. As I’ve said so often, to receive energy in whatever circumstances you are in, it is crucial to foster a sense of joy and gratitude. Some might say, “Be grateful? For what?” when asked to stop complaining and to give thanks. I want you to know this: you just don’t realize how blessed you are.

Giving thanks came naturally to me; I don’t need to be told. When I was young, I was physically weak. So I would give thanks?without making a conscious effort?for being able to stay fit without having problems for just one day. If you were physically weak or sick in bed like I was, you would feel like I do. But do you think you can still feel truly grateful from the bottom of your heart for being fit even when you have always been physically strong? I guess it might be difficult. You would seldom give thanks for something like that. In addition, you could be worried and preoccupied about other things. That’s where your energy would drain away. If you are in the habit of complaining about things, holding grudges, seeing people negatively, blaming yourself, or belittling yourself?thinking that you are just a nobody, your energy just vanishes. So, it is necessary to have a state of mind that prevents your energy from draining away?or more positively?you need to commit yourself to building up your energy every day.

To increase your energy, all you have to do is to be delighted, to give thanks for things. How delighted you are, however, ?whether you are delighted in a superficial way or from the depth of your heart?could produce different results. Instead of just enjoying the benefits of this rich society, if you get to the point of giving heartfelt thanks for your life that can start afresh today and can’t help but pay reverence to Nature’s great love that makes it all happen, you’ll find yourself in joy before you know it. Are you happy about being in good shape, having a good appetite and having had delicious meals? But be careful, there are dangers in taking all of these things for granted.