JOY!

There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually in thoughts of illwill, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self made prison-hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all-such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring you abounding peace.

There are very few things that can take you out faster than a crummy attitude. I know, we all have bad days, but lamenting and dreading and feeling bad about whatever, will drag you down and lock you up! There are a thousand saying referring to this, "never go to bed angry", "don't let the sun go down on your anger", "positivity attracts positivity" and the list goes on. They are all true. Not every day goes your way for sure, but we can't let that carry over between days, or even between hours if we can help it! I know it sounds too good to be true, but you can help prevent injury, keep yourself healthier, live longer, and have a better quality of life just by cutting the life of bad day's short, and extending the length of time you feel good. Here's why.

Your body is equipped with a countless number of little warehouses, each one full of every kind of chemical / endorphin / enzyme / protein / hormone / and amino acid that you can possibly think of. Each different substance itself capable of any number of miraculous things!! Just as an example, let's look at this one tiny little pea-sized structure at the base of your brain called the anterior pituitary gland. What does this tiny little collection of cells do? It makes something called HGH, which is responsible for muscle growth, bone growth, all of our development during childhood and puberty, our bodies ability to heal itself rapidly, and a host of other things! When HGH level's go down, we get more tired, our skin looses elasticity, and our immune system loses some effectiveness. HGH is actually nicknamed the 'fountain of youth'! and it's only one of a zillion different tools your body has!! So, how do all these chemicals decide when to go free and when to stay locked up? Your Brain! That's right, believe it or not, it's all controlled by the same command center as breathing and heart beat, your amazing, incredible, mind. It's all in your head, believe it! Your probably starting to get the idea here, but there are some things we can do to influence they way's and quantities and timing of all these little switches and dials our brain has to run this miraculous machine we call our body. Here's a few tips!

Laughing is one of the most valuable things God gave us. Joy is seriously one of my most favorite things! Let's try a little experiment in the power of words and thoughts shall we? I want you to say the word "JOY". say it out loud, not in your head. Just saying it makes you feel it. The louder you say it the better you feel! Just to prove it to you, I want you to yell the word "JOY!". I realize that very few of my readers will have the courage to really try this, but you've gotta give it a go before you judge! Stop what you are doing, stop reading, go outside and yell JOY and just try not to smile! It's impossible!!! Amazing!! This is the power of words and thoughts!

Seriously, if you laugh, pretty much everything get's better. Laughter really is the best medicine! It's a good idea to keep in your mental tool belt a few things that make you belly laugh hard. Like the word JOY. A few things that make you do the kind of laughing you cannot possibly do while running or biking without wiping out. Even more than that, keep in your mind the positive things people have said to you that have made you feel the best! Keep these kinds of things at the ready at all times, so that when your up against the wall during a workout, you'll have something to draw on that is more powerful than a power bar, more effective than any gel! You'll be able to tell your army of little warehouses of power house proteins and miracle substances to give you a little boost! Try out the word JOY a few times during your next run and watch what happens! I will talk more about why the word JOY and the activity of using your will to be thankful and happy is so powerful later, but for now, try out JOY, and watch some funny animal video's!

Here's one i think of sometimes about a sleepwalking dog, seriously!

This is the all time best collection! go at it, have a good laugh and make other people wonder what the heck you just finished smoking!

Laugh! And be Joyful!!