Action Sets Mood

I use the phrase, Action Sets Mood, often and how I use it means to take action, even if it’s the smallest action that results in feeling great. Don’t let your mood dictate your actions…flip it. I first heard this phrase used by Rich Roll on his podcast and it just stuck with me. I use the following example often to describe it using Boston Marathon winner, Des Linden. She asks – when do you ever finish a run and regret that you went out and did it no matter how early in the morning or tired you were prior? Never…. As she states, keep showing up.

Through the last couple months we have all been challenged with the COVID-19 situation making it difficult to do many routine things we once did. For me I added in an injury that sidelined me for about five weeks which stalemated my go to actions that gave me so much life. I struggled a good bit working through this and if you have been around me lately you know I’ve tried like heck to do a lot of different things, actions, to set my mood. The last two weeks have certainly picked up with activities and purpose. Here I’ll share a few recent things I’ve done to take action with my mood following (good mood…ha).

To set the stage, the injury mentioned above was/is more difficult to deal with in my head than my butt and it still is a pain in my butt as I go into detail in a previous blog, A Real Pain in the Butt. Now I’m still dealing with some physical issues there but I’m progressing and now able to take some small actions doing my thing – the biking and running stuff. This has resulted in a significant lift for my vibrations and getting a piece of my identity back.

In addition to the butt injury, being cooped up in my home like most has gotten old and I LOVE my home. I work from home full time to begin with but I usually mix in work travel and weekend get-aways often keeping things fresh. Not so much with COVID-19…but some small actions are creating a lot of hope here…

Beaches opened up two weeks ago and this created all sorts of opportunities. The first day I went for a short run on Clearwater Beach. It was a perfect combination. My doctor, Gerard Bogin, highly suggested running on soft surfaces as I incorporate running back in the mix and to do it on America’s top rated beach was heaven. Or maybe it was also running along side my great friend Elia Luti. It was all of the above… a little action set a big mood.

Coming into this weekend I simply wanted to take action by being out as much as I could and the beach or surrounding area as the destination. I knew this would create the mood I desired.

Friday night started out a bit dicey as I headed to the beach with the goal of decompressing from the work week and a secondary goal of swimming to shake out my legs. The dicey part was the weather. There were a few rain cells around that looked to be clearing and although the rain moved out, the mostly cloudy skies and breezy conditions made it a bit cooler than I planned. So I passed on the swim knowing I would have froze and not been able to stay for a potential gorgeous sunset. That decision worked out great as the sunset was beautiful. Also while at the beach I was able to listen to a podcast and just be…

Saturday morning I was doing my typical Saturday morning thing – coaching and running with our Total Fitness team at the scenic Dunedin Causeway. This action always gives me great vibes…a great group of people all trying to be fit and share life with each other. After the run there was a chance I could hook on with Coach Celia Dubey and another group of team Total Fitness on a bike ride and it worked out. She was so gracious in manipulating their route to be able to meet up with me. I tagged on with them riding through Dunedin, Clearwater, the beaches and back. I finished the morning with about five hours of medicine for the soul and body.

I took care of some chores, errands and snuck in a nap before I headed south to Fort DeSoto Beach late in the afternoon. This would serve a dual purpose. I wanted to continue with my intention for the weekend of being out and at the beach as much as possible and I was also hosting a practice triathlon Sunday morning for a small group that I needed to do some area preparation. When I arrived late Saturday afternoon, most people had left for the day so I had a big section of the beach to myself. I brought my chair, listened to another podcast and chilled for a bit.

Then I hopped in the water and measured off the swim for Sunday morning. It was refreshing and also reminded me how I hadn’t been in the water much… I headed out on the trail to mark some of the sidewalk and as I was almost finished the sun was beginning to set. I placed my bike down and ran through the sandy terrain and around some bushes to get to a point where I could see the sunset on the horizon. It was beautiful once again. They are like finger prints in a way. No two are the same and I get a charge out of each one…never gets old.

I packed up my things, drove home for some sleep and then arrived back at Fort DeSoto Beach at 7:00 AM to take care of final preparations for the group. Once everyone arrived, we did a warm-up run and then started our practice triathlon. It was hot, humid and glorious!

Coaching this group and participating with them brought me so many good vibrations again. I spent the entire morning there…aligned with my weekend intention. I went home, napped, and worked on some priorities before going for a long walk along Tampa Bay after dinner talking to my brother, Brian, via phone (in Erie, PA). That put a nice wrapper on the weekend.

I’ve also spent time recently supporting, Switch4Good, an organization educating and influencing why and how to ditch dairy, in the attempt to influence the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to remove dairy as a food group from the 2020-2025 U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Dairy harms us, animals and the planet so getting it off of a food group checks off all the boxes. If you are interested in supporting, please use the link above to submit your comments so they can be seen on June 1. It takes less than a minute. The actions I’ve taken here have certainly set my mood…being aligned with my beliefs…

Be intentional, take even the smallest action and watch your mood follow…

– Add Health to Your Life

Featured Blog Photo

• Upper Left – Clearwater Beach Friday evening
• Upper Middle – Group Ride Saturday morning
• Upper Right – Sunrise via Fort DeSoto Sunday morning
• Middle Left – “Action Sets Mood” – Rich Roll
• Middle Right – Sunset via Fort DeSoto Saturday evening
• Bottom Left – A little chalk work for the group
• Bottom Middle – Group Triathlon Sunday morning
• Bottom Right – Group Run Saturday morning