I have found that on the days that I don't work out, I am 10 times more stressed and get tired and worn out faster, I also find that on those days I am more likely to feel sad or depressed about my life. Exercising every day is a great way to keep the positive feelings and thoughts going strong. It keeps your mind and body upbeat and positive.
Negative Thoughts
Those negative thoughts can really creep in, and Exercise gives you endorphins which makes you feel happy and awake. Many of our negative thoughts have something to do with self-esteem as well. Pushing yourself to workout every day can make you feel good about yourself in more ways than one. Not only did you accomplish something that is good for you, but you did something to help you have a healthy body and mind.
Make it happen
I have a really hard time getting up in the morning, especially to go work out, but after I get to the gym or start working out I start to feel more awake and energized and start to feel glad that I got up in time to workout. Afterwords, I feel happier and more energetic and ready to start my day. Active individuals who spend less time watching television and more time staying busy in more active ways are far more likely to be successful and happy in their lives due to a positive attitude and higher self-esteem.
You've Got Options
There are so many options for leading a more active life-style that it is hard to come up with a an excuse. There are several affordable gyms out there that cost a small monthly fee which often will give you class options, gym equipment and sometimes sporting leagues and rock climbing walls. If you fall in love with something particular like Yoga or Kick Boxing, there are smaller gyms or studios that offer classes for just those things, or if you need to go the cheap route, you could always buy a few work out DVDs and workout from home. I will warn you though, I have several DVDs and I almost never touch them. There is something about being at home that makes it hard for me to want to workout. I have to get out of the house. However, if you set up a room in your house as your gym with maybe an empty space with some yoga mats, a TV, and some yoga DVDs it would give you your own active space so that you can separate your relaxing time with your workout time.
Make it Your Own
It all comes down to personal preferences and what will work for you! If you can't make yourself get out of bed in the morning, maybe make an after work workout routine, or an after dinner workout routine. Maybe you take a class with your spouse or significant other a few times a week. Regardless, I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep pushing yourself to make the choice to be active. Maybe you are mentally exhausted from a long day of work, maybe you didn't sleep well the night before, none of it matters, they are all excuses, for a positive and stress free life it is absolutely a necessity to stay as active as possible.
3 Steps To Help You Stay Positive
In a world full of negativity it is hard to find the positivity. We rarely hear
happy news in the papers and on the television. We only hear about who
killed who and a bomb went off here, and of natural disasters. The world
surrounds us with negativity, so how to we move past it, how to we find
the sunshine after the storm?
Step #1: Always be looking for the "silver lining".
Sometimes it is very hard to find, but it is always there. There have been situations in my life where I had a lot of trouble finding the silver lining. For example, one day I found out that I had lost my job. I wasn't just let go, I was fired and the person that fired me was very cruel about it.
I was barely
able to hold it together. I grabbed all of my things and left and
finally broke down into tears when I got to the car. I called up my Mom
and told her that I thought my life was over and didn't know what I was
going to do. She said "It wasn't a great job and you know that you can
find a better one, you can now claim this job as experience on your
resume and you will be able to find something better." At that time, I
couldn't even think past that moment. After hearing what my Mom said, I
realized that there really was something positive coming from this
experience. Even if an experience is awful and hard to deal with and
overwhelming, you will learn from it and take away everything that you
can from it. Find joy in everything you do. There is always a silver
lining somewhere, you just have to be strong enough to go looking for
it.
Step #2: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
People have a tendency to let small stuff bother them. For example, maybe you get upset when a Barista doesn't make your coffee beverage correctly, or maybe someone accidentally bumps you in the hall, or maybe you get upset every time someone talks in an elevator. All of these things are tiny. Way worse things can happen to you. Don't sweat it, just let it bounce right off of you. You have to remind yourself that things could always be worse and your coffee not being made the way you like it one day out of the week is not the end of the world. Take a deep breath and just let it go. The more of the small stuff you can let go, the easier time you will have thinking positively and keeping yourself calm in high pressure situations.
Step #3: Appreciate What You Have
We often take what we have for granted. Maybe your life isn't exactly how you imagined it would be. Maybe you thought you'd be living on your own private Island living in a castle by now. Well, that is probably not the case and that's okay. Look at what you do have. What things are good in your life right now. Focus on those things and be thankful that you have them. I have a great life and people around me who care deeply for me. I often get so caught up in the day-day stresses of life that I forget how blessed I am to have friends and family who care about me, a roof over my head, food to eat at every meal, and the time to work towards my goals. Make a list, right now! What things in your life are good? Post the list in a place that you will see it every day, add things to it, and constantly remind yourself that you have good things in your life.
