I showed up to work and high fived the first co-worker I saw.
At five, I swung by happy hour but was already happy way before my drink arrived.
I got home and rather than flipping on the TV, I jumped to cooking dinner.
Everything was different because sometimes the smallest change in lifestyle can have amazing effects. The cause? I know what you’re thinking, I was in love; but no, the reason for my motivated approach to the day was something far less complicated than that. I started riding my bicycle-everywhere.
Riding a bike is really just a form of exercise and we’re all familiar with the power of exercise. You do your thirty minutes in the gym, the blood starts moving and endorphins spill into your system. You feel great for about an hour, and pretty good for the rest of the day.
The word, endorphin, literally means “morphine from within”; a self produced pain killer and euphoria-inducing drug. With your mind off the pain or just feeling good, you can approach what the day throws at you with optimism and confidence. Since endorphins are induced by exercise sessions, you’re lucky if you get around to about four of those experiences a week. Yay.
But why not get more of it? There’s a way to feel good three or four times a day without having to transfer your home address to the gym and cancel every evening engagement to go for long runs. Just turn your commute to work, shopping, or coffee into an active commute and bike.
That may seem unnatural to be on drugs, albeit self-induced, half the day, but maybe that’s the way we we’re made to exist. Think. Maybe it’s not man’s natural state to be at a desk 8 hours a day and then be physically active for 20 minutes. If you go back to the natural Paleolithic state, people were probably hiking, running, or riding a Pterodactyl to work, any of which produces more endorphins than sitting behind the wheel of a Ford Taurus.
I don’t know for sure that riding a bike to “go green” will make any significant difference in keeping our solar system alive; it may not even save you any money when you factor in the extra shakes you have to pour every day to fuel the machine that your body is becoming; but if for no other reason, do it for the free “morphine” and go from feeling good to great and share that greatness with those around you…and by the way, you’ll be surprised at the people you meet.
Funny how just a little change in lifestyle can go a long way.
