A merry mind doeth good, like a medicine for your energy.
Making a choice on a daily basis to create an energetic spirit is your most potent weapon to rule over your meek and weak old nature. Purposefully creating a merrier mind will lead the rest of your body into energy euphoria.
Give your tenacious tiger these seven energy-boosting treats to chew on every day:
1. Let there be light! As soon as possible after waking up, take in several big eyefuls of sunshine. It’s a great time to pause and say thanks for another day. If it’s dark or cloudy, turn on all of the lights in the room you are in, including all of the lights in your bathroom when you are getting ready in the morning. Buy extra lights, but don’t forget to turn them off when you leave! Light is a powerful, positive drug to warm up your mind and energy. Don’t underestimate its “triple-strength” effectiveness. Recharge with solar power. Just remember: Light—it’s what’s for breakfast . . . and your mid-afternoon pick-me-up, too.
2. Let there be music! Even though music can tame the wild beast, the right music can put major tempo into your tenacious tiger. Use your favorite high-energy tunes to turn up your personal energy volume. Some rhythm makes every shower or bath better. (More shopping is in order, this time for a small bathroom stereo system!) Earphones at work for your iPod or computer can whip up some wonders to beat those mid-afternoon valleys.
3. Let there be stretching! Even puppies and kittens know that a good stretch is the best way to start the morning. So shake the nighttime rust out of your joints, muscles, and mind to stretch your energy beyond its current limits. Applying a full-body moisturizer after a shower is the perfect way to stretch while saving your skin.
4. Let there be scents! Ever wonder why most cleansers come in a lemon scent? Lemon makes you feel like working and cleaning. It was recognized decades ago that lemon increases productivity. Scents can help “stinking” energy levels smell more fragrant almost immediately. Burning the right aromatherapy candles (find a scent that works for you) or enjoying the right aromatherapy oils can create burning energy inside of you. My on-call energy secret during medical school was lemon or peppermint tea bags that I kept in my scrubs’ pocket for a quick sniff of sunshine.
5. Let there be motion! Physical motion puts your energy production in motion. So put your foot down and start walking to shout “no!” at low energy levels. Exercise is proven to boost your mood and metabolism (and burn calories), but you already knew that didn’t you?
Jump up and down. Move your legs under your desk. Take the stairs. Park as far away as possible (without making yourself late). Walk!
Let your walking lead to brisk walking. Let your brisk walking lead to jogging or other low-impact aerobic exercise (like swimming). Let your aerobic exercise lead to lifting small weights (try two-pound dumbbells beside your weight scale). Let your small lifting lead to weight training. You may be laughing right now thinking of yourself lifting weights, but you never know how far your road will take you when you choose to use small steps to consistently win small battles time after time.
6. Let there be laughter and smiles! Laughter is not only great medicine, but it’s also great tiger food. Need laughs? Sign up for a daily clean joke to be e-mailed to you from an online joke site. Search for “daily clean jokes” in your Internet search engine.
Smile. A lot. It sends a cue to your brain that something good is going on and perks up accordingly. Don’t believe me? Try smiling while thinking of something sad, and then try frowning while thinking of something happy. Weird! Your brain is already trained to associate positive face positions with positive emotions. Smiling puts everyone around you in a better, more energetic mood. Create your positive environment with your words and facial posture. You are in control.
7. Let there be less stress! Stress gobbles up your happy chemicals just like an elephant dispatches peanuts. An unhappy mind doesn’t translate into an energetic body, so put a stop to it. Identify and eliminate the cause of the stress instead of just putting a bandage over the symptoms.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath once in a while. My grandmother says, “Just let all your worries rinse off your body and down the shower drain every day.” She’s eighty-five and still working because she likes it. She gets a massage every week. She told me to tell you that she highly recommends it because it relaxes her mind and energizes her spirit. My other grandmother is ninety and walks every day.
Refuse to ever stop.
Perfecting your energy utopia is so important that you should seek professional or spiritual help if needed, particularly if medical depression is causing your lack of energy.
Refuse to let anything stand in your way. Choose to medicate your mind by choosing to create a merry spirit on purpose.
Tell your lying-down-low-energy-lion to move over. Your tenacious tiger is the new king of the jungle!
