Pump Up the Mood

I can be a pretty moody person.  Many would probably disagree, but that is just because I'm usually pretty good at covering my mood cake with a pretty thick layer of positive, optimistic icing.  Such was not the case on Friday.  Despite being my day off and a supposed day of rejuvenation from the week, there was no positive, optimistic icing for my cake. 

My family had been home long enough to know what my mood was like, and so when I announced I was going to watch a movie, my wife quickly had a suggestion.  She knows that when I'm in one of these moods, I will almost always pick something that really exacerbates the mood. She knows that I will pick some Sundance-esque, artsy, deep thinking, dark, end weirdly and in utter hopelessness and depression kind of movie.  I have a tendency to feed my miserable mood with "life is crap" movies and music.  Which then leads to ... well ... it's a very ugly looking cake.  Her suggestion, right on the heels of announcing my desire for a movie, was "Please!  Pick something HAPPY!"  Annoyed, I did!  Regretfully, I facebooked my selection before viewing the first five minutes, which clearly made me aware that it was rated R for several reasons.  But ultimately, it's B-grade (perhaps even C-grade -- it was not a cinematic wonder by any means), craziness of killer fish eating everyone and the comedy of bad scripting did lift my spirits.

BIT:  Media can help with our moods.  I regularly listen to my ipod when working out at the gym and running.  I find that music propels me to do better than I would have done without it (or in the case of the gym, trying to workout to "bad" music they pump in).  An article I was recently reading quoted a Brazilian study where cyclists who listened to music they liked were able to push themselves further, and that in Taiwan patients awaiting a heart procedure who listened to their favorite music had less anxiety than those who didn't listen to music. 

BITTER:  So, what is it about media that is able to lift our spirits and inspire us to do and be greater (or feed the bad mood)?  Is it the content, the lyrics, or the beat?  I researched my preferences.  When running, I like to listen to Christian music.  If I'm going for distance (the long haul) I usually listen to Praise & Worship music by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Fee, etc. (there's nothing like "You Never Let Go" to spur me on in the power of the Holy Spirit ... not to mention I sometimes get ideas about worship series while on these worship-runs).  If I'm going for speed ... well, it's got to have a more driving beat, so I pop in (I know that dates me, I really do use my iPhone, but we used to "pop in" tapes and Cd's) some Hawk Nelson, Stellar Kart, etc. (get a little "Crazy Love" to motivate me to move faster).

If I'm at the gym on the Rowing Machine, I've got to get my Caribbean on ... so, it's some Bob Marley, or if I want to be more progressive I listen to Stefani Hudson suggested Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley or Matisyahu.  If I'm on the Elliptical I love me some Hootie & The Blowfish, James Taylor, or Jimmy Buffett.  And, when lifting weights ... if it's a good day I try experimenting with some Alternative, like Death Cab for Cutie, Fountains of Wayne, etc.  But, if it's a bad day ... and I need some inspiration .. then I need Rock .. and there's nothing like some Led Zeppelin and AC/DC to get the mood in motion.

BITTEST:  It looks like beat may win out over lyrics.  Except that I know lyrics are important.  Recently, I let my son (I've blogged about his Pop/Rap musical taste [if you can call that taste]) listen to "his" music on the way to school.  A song by the New Boyz came on.  Not so bad.  It had a good beat.  But then the lyrics ... "I hope you don’t take this the wrong way ... Girl you look better with the lights off, Better with the lights off, ooh.  Girl you look better with the lights off, Better with the lights off, ooh Better with the lights off."

Really?  I know if I tried this with my better half (who looks FANTASTIC with the lights on and off), that she wouldn't "take this the wrong way".

I invite you to comment or facebook your suggestions for me to try in my next work out ... when I need to Pump Up the Mood.

Colemun Ricker

I've written about him here on the blog (you can search "Colemun" in the search box to the right to pull up those blogs) ... I've quoted him to our staff at First Farragut ... I've whined about him to my family ... I've talked about him and with him at First Farragut Church (he came and did an interview during worship in the "Get Pumped!" worship series) ... it's a wonder someone hasn't told me to "Shut up already about the Colemun." So, instead of a shut up ... with the advent of The Rush video with VP Rob Rettmann and Colemun ... I wanted to give Colemun a shout out.

I went to The Rush back in December (2010). Having tried everything known to humanity to loose weight, I knew I needed help ... professional help. I'm a Biggest Loser fan. I like to sit on the couch with my bag of Fritos and dip them in Peanunt Butter while watching Jillian kick thier butts. I needed a Jillian (my wife calls Colemun "Jillian" [sorry dude] "So, how was Jillian today?" she asks), and I needed to throw out the Fritos.

God has a way of putting just the right people and events in my life when I need them. God had to really work on this one. From Jill-Marie Weaver, our Children's Director at the time, inviting me to The Rush for a spin class (NEVER went ... thought about that bike seat with 250 pounds ... and my seat ... well, you get the picture ... sorry for that picture) to Stefani Hudson, our Administrative Assistant, telling me every time I complained, "You need to go to The Rush!" over and over, lead me to Colemun.

Colemun was the right person. It is not an easy feat to go from a couch potato to losing nearly 60 pounds and fitting into a t-shirt you wore in college in 1990 (Colemun is barred from 1990 jokes), all in just 4 months. I had vacations, Christmas, New Years, and generally just bad weeks during this time. I needed to be inspired, challenged, and motivated. Colemun is a huge part of my success. Not only did he teach me how to do the exercises I needed to do to reach my goal (correctly -- he's smart that way), he didn't hurt me .. well, he did hurt me, and on several occasions (one of which I blogged about) ... he didn't injure me (we're still working on ninja feet). And the temporary pain has really paid off.

So ... thanks to The Rush ... thanks to Colemun (we still have some more work to do). I highly recommend both!


BIT: As for The Rush video ... the day after recording that ... my facebook post was "Hubris is painful." I really pushed it so that I wouldn't look goofy. That "Easter Bunny Burpee" (jump, burpee, pushup -- I rename some of the exercises) didn't look ANYWHERE near like that until the camera came out. And, the sliders with the pushups on the balls ... it COMPLETELY collapsed the first time ... but when the camera came out ... I was a rock star. Yes, Colemun + Rob and his Video Camera + John's Pride = SORE abs and legs.

Put A Ring On It

Our administrative assistant, the fantastic Stefani Hudson, noticed it almost immediately this morning. As we were talking about the day she exclaimed, "You're married!" Of course she knows I'm married, but you wouldn't know that if you had just met me. I have not been wearing my wedding ring for the last couple of years. I had gotten to a point where the ring no longer fit and it had become uncomfortable. So, I took it off. My wife was not too excited.

Yesterday I decided it was time to tell my wife that I would be out of town next week. She has never liked it when I go on trips. Especially since, what I've come to term, "The Great Gaffe" After one such trip away from each other, my wife and I were talking about missing each other with some friends. She had said how much she missed me and had trouble sleeping when I was away. I responded with, "I really don't miss you until the third day." (WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!). I had an explanation for what I really meant, but it didn't work then, and probably won't work now.

So, I've known for a while that I would be away, but she's been under the weather and I was looking for a good moment to tell her. That moment was not availing itself. As I was reaching the critical point, I noticed my wedding ring on the dresser. My thought was, "I wonder if that fits now?" Having lost nearly 40 pounds! It did.

So I had a plan ... Drop the news of my trip ... Wait for the response ... Take it like a man ... Then flash the bling and cushion with, "Look, honey, it fits." So I dropped the news of my trip. Her response was that it was okay. So I went ahead and showed her the ring and said, "Look, honey, it fits. It's still a little tight, but it's not painful." What I didn't realize was that I had set her up.

"I'm not so sure that I like that it's not painful." Of course she smiled.

BIT: Rev. Grady Winegar on Sunday, June 2, 1996 [yes! 15 years this June] held my ring and my wife's and said, "These rings are the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all the uniting of John and Gincy in holy marriage." Over nearly 15 years, we've had some painful and uncomfortable times (what the ring had come to be). But I'm reminded of a print I gave to Gincy by Brian Andreas which says, "while it was a little scary at times, mainly he could not even imagine the world without her there." So, my outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace is now proudly displayed for all to see ... and it fits!

BITTER: I know you've not gotten past "The Great Gaffe". What I meant to do was to put much more emphasis on the "really" word. I REALLY miss you by the third day ("don't" should have been completely left out.) See, it still didn't work.