Can the ride lead to laughter?

I've been gone a bit longer than intended, but I hope you haven't forgotten to ride. If you're still asking what that is, simply put, your ride is how you interpret your life. Is it good, bad, neutral? Are you having a good day, a bad day, a so-so day? How do you want to interpret your day? Remember, you are the navigator.

Here's a tip I just learned at a speakers' convention this past week:

On those so-called bad days that may begin with you in a cranky mood, don't get out of bed without first acknowledging your mood and then asking: What's the BEST that can happen?

Did you notice the difference? Aren't we used to saying, "What's the worst that can happen?"

Today, let's switch it up and ask the opposite. Put positive focus on your thoughts and observe the changes in your mood. Sneaky, huh?

When you consider that you only wake up cranky if you choose to wake up cranky, you give yourself back the power to decide. When you start paying attention to your moods, your thoughts, your habits, you open yourself up to awareness. And more importantly, you open yourself up to your personal power -- the power to choose.

Today, embrace that power and choose to smile.

What's to smile about, you may ask. My answer: create your own list.

Here's my short list from this morning:

sunshine
good health
my dog asleep at my feet
singing karaoke with my speaker friends from France and Portland
a messy desk
a car that needs cleaning so I get to use the power sprayer


From your own self-exploration, you'll see there's much to smile about every single day. Put your focus on that instead of on that which makes you frown. Problems make you frown. Solutions, however, make you smile.

If you want to feel the power even deeper within yourself, do what my Phoenix speaker friends Kitty Wiemelt and Kathleen Thoren, both laughter leaders, might suggest: laugh out loud.

So, yes, when you take charge, when you set the course in a forward-moving direction -- even if you don't go far at first -- your BIKE ride will not only lead to laughter but even the detours along the way will bring smiles.

How's that for centrifugal force?

All my best,
Jackie