Shortcuts to a Happy Life
Most of the time, I am happy. Life is too short, not to be happy. But that doesn’t mean that “happy” is always easy. My happiness is a constant work in progress. Just like all of you, I have so many days when I wake up grumpy. I lose my patience. I get annoyed. I get irritated. But I made the discovery years ago that I make my own happiness. I have found there are three shortcuts to a happy life: working out, smiling, and finding a personal theme song or playlist.
I will be so honest here…many days I don’t want to work out. I do not. I can make every excuse: my back hurts, I’m tired, I’m too busy. We all have a million reasons. I have found when my life is out of order (house mess, busy schedules, bad eating), I want to work out less. And this is exactly when I need to reign in the discipline. I have decided that the real achievement is to get myself to FITT-RX. On these “blah, I don’t feel like it today” days, I know I can rely on these amazing trainers to snap me out of my self-imposed funk. And you know what…it ALWAYS works. I may not have executed the burpee back flip, but I made it through the workout. I achieved something. Add the endorphin boost and it’s better than a shot of espresso.
If you have worked out with me, you know that I do smile a lot. Many people think I am just that happy. But often I am smiling to trick myself. Or I am vibing off all the good energy created at FITT-RX. It is absolutely impossible not to smile around Matt Wargin’s energy, or at Stephanie Wargin’s cool girl vibe, or at Mary Beth Lucas’ sweet nature., or at Laura Wise’s enthusiasm. It’s human nature to smile when someone else smiles. It feels good to be around happy people. And smiling is addictive. So smile. A smile is a little spark that can ignite some true happiness in your day.
I know this last one is a stretch for some of y’all. I know its basic and bit too simple. But let me tell you…nothing gets me out of my funk like R Kelly’s “Ignition.” I know he is a controversial guy. Don’t love him. But I absolutely LOVE this song. I have several theme songs for different situations in my life. Sometimes it’s Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” or Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” or often Beyonce’s entire “Lemonade” soundtrack. I will crank it in the house until that mojo comes back. I will drive around town jamming until I feel carefree. I will sprint to the chorus of my favorite song. I will pop on my Beats, walk the dog like I am the biggest super star ever to hit Elmhurst.
Granted I know that I am only a rock star in my own mind. But I have also decided it doesn’t matter. As long as I am working out, smiling and rocking out…I am my own rock star.
–Kristin Rozmus, Certified Rock Star