#mcm 24 November 2014

#mcm

Today goes out to...

 

Me

Nobody pulls off a Christmas sweater vest like me.

With good health and strong hamstrings,

Mike  

Smile and that hipster girl on the bus smiles uncomfortably with you

Time to puke some positivity on your ass.

  Life is hard, man.  Every day you have to get up and put pants, which is just the worst.  Make breakfast, get to school, go to work, call the doctor, workout, do your laundry, clean the house, wash the dishes, call your loved ones, write a blog post.  There seems to be a never ending to do list of shit! 

  It's all too easy for us to be buried in the monotony of day to day life.  We get caught up in what we have to do to live and forget what we do to feel alive.  And this is completely bass-ackwards.  

  I am incredibly fortunate to be working and studying in a field I am passionate about.  I love fitness.  Maybe you've seen my blog?  And I get to wake up every day and study and learn and work with something that I am passionate about.  And some days even that gets tiring!

  So how do we keep fire, passion and drive alive in our everyday lives?  I'm going to tell you "Mike's Super Secret Super Easy Ways to Not be a Total Sad Sally"

Step One:  Attitude

  

  As someone who has struggled with depression in the past this was the hardest idea for me to understand.  It is also the most important.  Happiness is a choice.  Once you decide that you want to be happy you will be happier.  And once you know that, it is incredibly empowering.  If you are able to take in the day to day challenges life has to offer all of us and greet them with a smile instead of a frown there is nothing stopping you from being happy.

  This is obviously more difficult than it sounds.  Especially after your teachers piles on a ton of work, you're out of groceries, and that girl never called you back for a second date.  But once you take charge of you own happiness through your own attitude you'd be amazed how different your world will seem.

Step Two:  Surround yourself with positivity

  Some people are just happiness suckers.  They suck the happiness out of everything.  And as much as that sounds like a villain from an episode of the Teletubbies, I know you are thinking of someone who is like that right now!  That guy who is always complaining about his wife, his job, the weather.  That girl who thinks everything sucks and the world is out to get her.

Get rid of these people.

 

  You don't need that negativity in your life.  These people bring you down more than you know.  I know it is difficult but sometimes in order to do what's best for you, you have to cut ties with these people.

 

Step Three:  Find something you care about and pour yourself into it

 

    This can be ANYTHING.  While I highly recommend fitness, maybe 5 days a week at the gym isn't your thing.  Maybe reading a book series is more you.  Volunteering, cars, politics, your new fitness blog, whatever it is invest yourself into it.

 

  The old saying, "you get out of something what you put into it" applies here.  Once you invest yourself in something in a complete way the dividends paid out to you through happiness and self satisfaction are immeasurable. 

Step Four: Do some fitness

 Seriously. There are piles and piles and piles of research that show a direct correlation between physical activity and happiness.  Besides the physiological factors of endorphins and feel good chemicals being released while you exercise, nothing feels better than being able to say at the end of the day, "well at least I got a good workout in."   What this boils down to is healthy people are happy people.  And the only thing keeping you from that is yourself.  Do some pushups!

  You aren't going to be happy all the time.  Everyone needs a night alone with "Marley & Me," a family sized box of Oreos and their own thoughts every once in a while.  But I believe that if you make the effort, keep happy people around you, pursue your passion, and do some squats, there is no reason you should have to go through life a mopey sad sac of suck.


With good health, big smiles, and strong hamstrings,
Mike

#mcm November 10, 2014

#mcm

Today goes out to....

  Me

Man, I'm awesome.

  With good health and strong hamstrings,

Mike