This morning I woke up to a + sign.
At first I wasn’t sure if it was an alarm or the dog wanting to go out and commune with nature.
I looked in the mirror before taking her out. Pulled up my shirt. Ah, yes. Leaner and meaner.
So why the subject of today’s email? Why not? If I’m going to wake up positive + – then it’s only fitting to wake up laughing. Or at bare minimum, smiling.
And this point need not be lost – for the more you can relax, smile and laugh, the stronger, healthier and fitter you shall become.
For a long stretch of my life I got this wrong. I got up and brushed my teeth with piss and vinegar, figuring that this was a requirement to make any progress in life.
I had opponents I needed to beat and stomp into the ground. This cannot be done, I figured, if I’m smiling. You gotta be tense all the time. Your muscles as well as your mind. There’s no time to relax and unwind. Everything is pressure, pressure, pressure. Everything is urgent, or even an emergency.
But when you convert urgency into “urge and see,” you take a look at your life in a different way. You still have the same urges, but now you see them from an elevated vantage point. You don’t have to wake up pissing, much less brush your teeth with uric acid.
The result of this shift showed me that I can get more done, and more effectively, with a relaxed smile and a more than occasional laugh.
The smile doesn’t need to be external. Internal will do because what you’re smiling and laughing about is no buddies (or enemies) business. No one has to know what lights you up.
When your internal smile takes over your whole body, a remarkable thing happens. You move with far greater ease. You’re stronger, faster and more flexible. You can also hold your ground due to improved balance. What’s more, because you’re not in a state of flight, fight or freeze – you automatically respond better to whatever comes your way.
Take any exercise I teach and add an internal smile to it and you’ll notice the shift taking place. It’s strange to discover that once your mind is smiling your body has more power and energy available.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you be happy, hehe. That would be a crime, wouldn’t it?
So mix your training up with short bouts of anger, just for the fun of it. It will provide a nice contrast to your obnoxious smiling.
You will find that focused and controlled anger can get a big rise out of you, but over-extended, it shortens the circuits and leads to blowups and blowouts.
Laughter, oddly enough, can get an even bigger rise out of you. And you know, it might even make you wake up leaner and wiener.
Experiment and play around with this idea and let me know how it goes.
I look forward to hearing you say that you’re…
Kickin’ Ass and Takin’ Names
with a smile!
Matt Furey
Here are some of my programs that you are wise to add smiling energy to:
