Tag: laugh

Self Improvement · Uncertainty

What We Need More Of

Bob McInnisLeave a comment

What we need a lot more of is exuberance, enthusiasm, and elation. The world around me and the one created by media is vitriolic, spiteful and polarized. I find the atmosphere draining and depressing so I am calling on all my friends, family colleagues, readers and any strangers who happen to encounter this challenge to step into the world today, tomorrow and the next day – Until October 1 with the 3 e’s on your face and sleeve.

Be exuberant. Be ebullient, buoyant, cheerful, jaunty, lighthearted, high-spirited, exhilarated, excited, exultant, euphoric, joyful, cheery, merry, jubilant, vivacious, enthusiastic, irrepressible, energetic, animated, full of life, lively, vigorous, adrenalized; be full of life and optimism. Smile when you are walking down the street, down the hall or through the park. Smile a ridiculously big smile at every person you encounter. Laugh, giggle, snort when something tickles your funny bone. Don’t suppress it because of some imagined social convention.
Sing along with the radio, cd, or mp3. Listen to uplifting, inane, silly songs and join in. Try Mary Poppins, Frozen, or Weird Al for inspiration. Sing loud and like you mean it (even if you don’t).

Stand up with your back straight and your shoulders back as you skip, march, prance and dance through your day. Be an invitation to exuberance for the world that sees you and wonders, sees you and smiles, sees you and joins in.

Be enthusiastic. Be eager, keen, avid, ardent, fervent, passionate, ebullient, zealous, vehement; excited, wholehearted, committed, devoted, fanatical, earnest; go hog-wild, can-do, gung-ho, rah-rah. Cheer on someone who is trying, be first in line to accept responsibility or to try something new. Wear your passion on your sleeve by celebrating a great idea, a small victory, a valiant effort, a team success. Share the victories with others and include them in the credit.

Be Elated. Be thrilled, delighted, overjoyed, ecstatic, euphoric, very happy, joyous, gleeful, jubilant, beside oneself, exultant, rapturous, in raptures, walking on air, on cloud nine, in seventh heaven, jumping for joy, in transports of delight; on top of the world, over the moon, on a high, tickled pink. The other two e’s are easy to see and easy to demonstrate – they exist outside of us and are on exhibit for all to see and experience. Being elated is inside of us and is more difficult to hold on to. But like most things, elation is a choice. I get to decide, you get to decide, we get to decide to feel joyful in difficult times, to be delighted by the blessings we have not dejected by any perceived deficiency and tickled pink with the privilege of relationships we have.

As I reach the end of this post, I do a twirl and laugh out loud. Will you do the same? As I step away from my computer, I commit to smiling and celebrating with those I encounter this morning. Will you do the same? In the moments between my desk and the door, I simply choose joy over anger, glee over anxiety, and appreciation, love, and mindfulness over the messages and images that will likely bombard me this afternoon. How about it, are you ready to be exuberant, enthusiastic and elated?

Make Today Remarkable,

B

Self Improvement

Zone of Genius

Bob McInnisLeave a comment

Are you operating in your zone of genius? Did you know that you had one? Rhett Power published article in June on Inc. “10 Ways to Acesss Your Creative Genius”

He suggests that “We were each born with an active imagination and creativity. We’ve never really lost it. We just don’t take time to nurture it.” and outlines the 10 steps. (followed by my comments)

  1. Practice doing nothing.  We are flying from one activity to another and get into routines that are the death knell of creativity and effectiveness. When we scramble to put out one fire because another is burning, we get trapped in a narrow set of solutions that appear to be working.
  2. Take time to smell the roses, literally. For those who have read this blog before you know that I suggest that we need to be outside in the world taking in the view at least 1 hour every day. Make it a priority, put it in your calendar and treat it like any other appointment.
  3. Laugh and Play. I am fortunate to have 11 grandkids within 1/2 hour so I am filled with their energy and play. But I also intentionally seek out fun things to do alone and with my beloved.
  4. Challenge your senses. Not only smell the roses but also listen to them. And then describe the senses with a song or a poem.
  5. Write This is quite simply the best outlet and impetus for creative genius I know. I write 1000-2000 words every day. Sometimes it is crap and sometimes it is genius but without doing the writing none of it would show up. As I write solutions to subconscious problems find their way into the stream and new approaches are discovered.
  6. Awaken your animal instinct. I haven’t tried this one but it will become part of my morning run. If you see me leaping and jumping I am striving to be a gazelle. If I am lumbering along, I may be tired or just practicing to be a hippo.
  7. Get out of the box. This is always my favorite but I love ambiguity and change. For less zealous readers you might want to commit to doing one thing for the first time every couple of days.
  8. Imagine yourself in your own perfect world. The preferred future is where abundance and hope resides Hope Opens a Window and Another Hope Lesson from November Hope Series say more about this.
  9. Never listen to negative voices. Easy to say harder to do.  I can take everything personally and need more practice with this.
  10. Applaud yourself for the effort. If you have read this to the end you can clap and celebrate. As you take up 6,7,8,9 of these suggestions give yourself a big Bravo!

Make Today Remarkable, by taking an intentional creative breath,

 

B

Uncategorized

Wear a Smile

Bob McInnis1 Comment

A smile can turn a conflict into a conversation. A fight into a hug. Why don’t we do a disarmament and replace all the weapons with more smiles? I feel better when I smile, I probably look better when I am smiling and others react better when I offer a sincere smile. Life is better when you are smiling even if the circumstances haven’t changed our physiology and brain mapping has. A smile is a placebo that works in all situations. Turn the corners of your mouth upward and let the twinkle in your eyes come out and you will see changes that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.

You don’t need to feel giddy or even joyful to smile. The process of letting your face muscles make your brain muscles shift and tweak your emotions is remarkable. You can be sad and smile. Mad and smile. You can stand, sit, and dance while you smile, You can smile alone or in a group. When you are alone, smiling in a mirror doubles the unimaginable shift.

Smile
You should smile when you feel tension or when you feel a sneeze.
You will smile when someone hugs you or tickles your wee knees.
Smiling raises your expectations and clears your troubled heart.
It will give you motivation and create a place to start.

Make Your Day Remarkable, by smiling,

B

Uncategorized

Hacking Happiness

Bob McInnis1 Comment

Monday morning; what better time to explode happiness in your life! If Mondays drag you down, drain your reserves or rub your nerves there are easy ways to hack happiness this morning.

smiles

Start the today with three easy goals.

  1. Make 3 people smile before 10:15am
  2. Find 3 things that make you laugh out loud before 9:15am
  3. Write 3 simple things that you want more of before 8:15am

Now set out to add more of what you want, laugh and encourage a smile.

Happiness will begin to infect you before mid morning.

Your noon hour challenge is to intentionally lose an argument/debate. Losing might not be pleasant but learning that you shouldn’t win every argument or you aren’t learning is an important lesson.

Finally, your 1:15pm assignment is Don’t waste time on gossip. 2:15pm Avoid negative people. And 3:15pm drink plenty of water and look forward to reading a good book this evening.

Rinse and repeat as much as possible tomorrow.