Perfect Storm

I'm happy to say that lately, I've been feeling great. Honestly, I feel like I can be kind of a moody guy. If not publicly, at least in my thought life, I vacillate between being optimistic and being incredibly cynical. Being encouraging and being sarcastic. Very moody. Eh, it makes me feel more like an artist.

I think I'm feeling so great for a combination of factors:

1. Working out a lot. I'm on about Day 50 of P90X, the hardest workout program I've ever been on. The workouts are increasing my energy level and general mental and emotional outlook. At home and at work, I feel focused and energized. It's exactly the boost that working out is supposed to give you. Check out P90X here.

2. Scheduling my week. I recently read a blog post by Michael Hyatt, the former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. He is an oustanding blogger, and recently posted a breakdown of how he actually schedules his week. I have been trying this lately, and am finding myself being more productive and focused at work. I love it. Turns out, I prefer more structure in my life than I originally thought. I think as long as I can create the structure for myself, I enjoy having a scheduled and organized week. It has really helped me a lot. You can check out Hyatt's blog post here.

3. The weather is improving. I think the weather is partly dictating my mood. I know that as a songwriter, I almost always match the type of song I'm writing with the weather [rainy=mellow, instrospective; sunny=upbeat, celebrative]. And I think it affects my mood as well. While it has been rainy lately, the warmer weather has been really helpful in my overall happiness and thankfulness.

4. Focusing on specific goals and attitudes. At the beginning of the year, I set some goals and attitudes I wanted to approach 2011 with. So far, I've been faithful to these goals and attitudes. It's going very well so far. The result is that I'm living in the sweet spot, focusing my energies on things that excite me, and am "using my time wisely" [as Mrs. Waggoner would say].

All in all, it's been a formula for an abundant, focused, joy-filled few weeks. Give it a try.