My Strong Medicine » happiness

Does Unfit = Unhappy

Sean — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 17:53:57 +0000

This is a very interesting (yet disturbing) article. It of course has to use the late Jack LaLanne as the subject of discontent.
The article claims that we as a society have labeled ‘fit’ as being ‘happy’ and that if you are not ‘fit’ you feel unhappy and because of the ‘craze’ that Jack LaLanne started you have some sort of ‘guilt’ for not being ‘happy’.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article and the notion of being ‘guilted’ into thinking that unless you exercise and strive for better health the public views you as a failure of some sort??
That some how we ‘fit’ individuals are a part of some ‘cult-like’ organization that is attempting to ‘out’ anyone who won’t follow.
Hmm.
Seems a bit extreme thinking.
I for one promote healthy living for the reward of improved quality of life and to decrease the ‘pain’ that goes along with unhealthy choices. I for one don’t believe in the extremes of this thought process. Any level of improved health is good in my book.

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

The Ripped and the Righteous

It is Jack LaLanne you can thank, or curse, for all the gyms: in exurban strip malls, suburban manses, downtown hotels. The health club he opened in Oakland, Calif., in 1936 was one of their seeds and templates, an endorphin emporium that pointed the way.

With “The Jack LaLanne Show,” he also had a hand in the spread — a contagion, really — of television programs exhorting viewers to rise up from their La-Z-Boys and of infomercials hawking workout equipment. An army of spandex missionaries was unleashed.

But that’s not the whole of his legacy, or the most interesting (some might say insidious) part.

That sense of failure you feel when you haven’t exercised in days? That conviction that if you could pull off better push-ups, you’d be a better person through and through? These, too, are his doing, at least in part. What he left behind when he died last week, at the toned old age of 96, was not only a sweaty culture of relentless crunching and spinning but also the notion that fitness equals character, and that self-actualization begins with the self-discipline to get and stay in shape. In the post-LaLanne landscape, it’s not the eyes but the abdominals that are windows to the soul.

Read more at www.nytimes.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/ao0te

Filed under: random Tagged: fitness, happiness

Change Your Mindset Change Your World

Sean — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:01:39 +0000

I borrowed that title and tweaked it a bit from Dr Wayne Dyer. He wrote a book “Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life”. (Great message)

I 110% believe in the idea our mind, our thoughts, our choices, and our attitude determines our life’s results.

Mediocrity and ‘settling’ will only get you what you ask for.

Being realistic and ‘following suit’ will only get you the same.

‘If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always gotten’. A powerful but extremely simple concept that the people of the world can’t quite grasp.

I’m not only a fan of motivational quotes and metaphysical books, but I’m also a fan of Will Smith. I’m a fan for many reasons, but mostly for his outlook, for his attitude, and his sheer drive.

I’ve been witness to his success from the days when he was a low-named, unknown rapper with his partner DJ Jazzy Jeff to the prolific Hollywood icon he is today. I don’t know about you, but he must have done something right? Luck may have played a small part in his success, but his CONTINUED success stems from something greater.

I think he is the walking, talking, breathing representation of what positivity is and what the ‘no-quit’, ‘don’t-settle’, and ‘out-work’ mind set can get you.

Never settle.

Never quit.

The only reason ‘It’s never been done’ is because some quit trying. Surround yourself with this aura and people like this and you’d be amazed at how different and how amazing the world really is.

Happiness is a choice, not a situational result.

Thanks Will.

Filed under: opinion, words of wisdom Tagged: happiness, success

Taking Things For Granted

Sean — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:45:09 +0000

Isn’t it amazing how everyone gets so comfortable in their own ‘present’ that they feel entitled and get upset when something doesn’t ‘flow’ the way they want?

How idiotic we all act and feel.

I am just as guilty as the next person to complain. Complain, moan and gripe about how ‘difficult’ or how ‘miserable’ something was simply because the standard I expected wasn’t met, or my spoiled lil’ world was shaken by an unplanned disturbance or ‘inconvenience’.

Do we ever stop to think how amazing our lives are? How lucky we are to live in this day and age with all the ‘conveniences’ and ‘amenities’ this world has to offer.

How quick and automatic we are to lash out when the ‘quick’ and ‘automatic’ doesn’t work in our favor.

Louis CK hits the nail on the head:

Take a step back and breathe in what you’ve been given. I think we all could use a lil’ more amazing and a lil’ less unhappiness in our lives don’t you think?

Posted in opinion, words of wisdom Tagged: happiness, life

Happiness is not Expensive

Sean — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:15:22 +0000

It will however take some effort and creativity.

Money does not buy you happiness, but it sure does make the journey a whole heck of a lot easier.

So what makes you happy? If it’s the finer things in life.. then maybe this is the wrong post to be reading.. Heh heh.

The key here being, find out what makes you happy. Is it your hobbies, is it your interests, is it friends & family, is it work? What ever it may be.. find it.. and then enhance it!

If your happiness is spending time with family and/or friends. Then start to schedule some events.. plan a couple outings. Make sure you keep in touch with what’s going on in their lives. Become involved.

If it’s your hobbies, make time for them. Schedule time for just you and your hobby at least 1-3 times per week.

The bottom line is, happiness is a state of mind, not a situational result. Choose your happiness, and choose to have more of those moments when you are your happiest.

Enjoy being happy. Because once you find your happiness, and can repeat the feeling and the flavor… it becomes an addicting habit! And like all other influences, your happiness will rub off onto those around you.. and before you know it.. your happy more often than not.

So how expensive is that?

Carpe Diem

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: happiness