It's Friday again! I love Fridays so that I can have a long sleep-in on the weekend and going for my weekly long run on Sundays. Aside from that, I might have a chance to tackle one of the many ambitious recipes on my to-do list which I am usually to lazy to get to.
One of the many things that I am very happy with at the moment is that I have finally bought a Garmin Forerunner 410 that I have been hesitating for far too long. I always spend all my money on food and Lululemon clothes that I my 'fitness' fund is empty. But after a few agonising misfortune with Runkeeper and Runmeter I threw in the towel and vow to myself to buy a Garmin. So far I like it and it does give me an overall good GPS coverage except for my runs in the CBD on Thursdays. The same happened to Runmeter, the data are always wonky when I run in on the same route on Thursdays. It's also made my long runs more enjoyable because it constantly display the average pace I running and I get more even pacing with it. One of the biggest problem I have before was that I run too fast for a few kms and then too slow for the next few.
I love doing a positive Friday post because I try to infuse some happy genes before the weekend starts and it's always a good idea to be happy and here is an article that I found on MindGreenBody.com that I can't wait to share.
5 Things Happy People Do
All of us have the ability to be hard-hearted. Life brings pain and trauma, and our ability to love and be vulnerable becomes compromised. Physically, our upper spines round, our pecs become too tight, and metaphysically our heart chakras become imbalanced. So why are some people perpetuallyhappy and successful in life? They obviously have pitfalls and struggles too. Here are five tips to help you stay smiling.
1. Happy people are resilient.
Life knocks everyone down, but staying down only leads to misery. Have your day of wallowing and then get up, dust off, and try again.
2. Happy people are open.
Being hurt makes you never want to feel pain again, but if you want to be happily successful in life you have to open yourself up to new opportunities—and the chance to get hurt again.
3. Happy people know sadness is temporary.
Viewing the snowstorms—and occasional blizzards—that we all go through in life as showers before the sun shines is a must. Yoga teaches us balance. Call it yin and yang, light and dark, because whatever you choose the meaning is the same. Unfortunately, we all have to experience negativity in life. How you deal with it is where the true challenge lies.
4. Happy people choose to be happy.
Here’s another thing my physical yoga practice teaches me—how I react to stress on my mat is a choice. I can be angry and frustrated or I can choose to lighten up and take it one breath at a time. Sometimes that’s all you can do in life off of your mat as well—smile, breathe and choose to see the world as a generally good place that occasionally flat-out stinks.
5. Happy people fake it.
When I was waitressing, I had to put on a smile and be kind even if I just had a terrible fight or some other personal distress in my life. The way I looked at it was that for all I know, this could be someone’s special anniversary or birthday and who am I to spoil it when my job is to bring these people food and a good experience? That carried over into the realization that misery doesn’t have to love company, and that sometimes simply pretending to be happy makes you feel better. I’m not suggesting that you hide your feelings—I’m big on communication and sharing. What I am suggesting is simple—sometimes you have to fake it to make it.
Happiness doesn’t have to be some pie-in-the-sky dream that we only see in movies, but the thing is that we often have to work at it. We see these happy, successful people and assume that they are “born that way” or “lucky.” The reality, though, is that like most wonderful things in life, happiness is mindset that for many of us takes—wait for it—practice. Learning that we have the ability, more often than not, to deal with a situation in more than one way is liberating because it gives us some semblance of control over things that we have no control over. So when life hands you lemons, try making some kick-butt limoncello—and try choosing to be happy during the process. I think that’s step one.
And to finish off such a positive photo I'm sharing some of my favourite finds this week:
A friend posted a photo of these uber cute pups on Facebook and it just made my day.
Do you Chaturanga? I found this photo of me doing a side plank in yoga class last year and I find it so hilarious that I have to share it here. I look more like I was striking a side prawn pose. Yes, yoga makes me happy regardless how uncoordinated and silly I look when I am doing it. It calms my mind and body after a long day at work and amuse myself with the poses that I struggle and finally able to do it and most of all it allows give me 'me' time to just breathe deep and long to clear my mind. If you have not tried it out, there are free classes every Wednesday evening at Lululemon Stores in Britomart and Ponsonby and you don't have to purchase or bring anything. Just pop over for a 60 minutes relaxation after work/study and you will love it. Again, I am not associated with Lululemon or benefited in any monetary ways. I just love the free yoga classes and their high quality clothing.
Are you running/ cycling/ swimming/ yoga-ing over the weekend?
Wearing pyjamas till mid noon on Sundays - love it or hate it?
Do you treat yourself on the weekend for your hardwork? What is it?
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