Wookiee Loves Tolls

The preferred method to pay for bridges and roads in the East must be tolls. I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on them over the past couple weeks and the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania should send me some cookies for my support…or maybe they already have. For some reason, a fair share of the last few trips through a toll both has been a source of great excitement in my truck. You see, I have a giant Schnoodle that travels with me and a good portion of toll booths notice her head trying to squeeze out the window every time I roll it down. As they hand me a receipt, there has been some dog treats that come along with it. The frequency has been enough that my dog has come to love tolls. Whenever I slow and roll down the window she is practically jumping out to get to the treats. An expectation has been created for her.

I’d love to say that she is always rewarded for her expectation, but unfortunately not every toll booth is that nice. However, I think it serves to illustrate the point that having high expectations is a great way to live life. How many times have you found yourself down and depressed because you don’t think there’s anything to do, or worse, to live for. You mope around, go to a job you hate, drudge through your workout and eventually go to bed. That is not the way to live. Take a cue from Wookiee (my dog).

If you’ve found yourself in a rut and need a way out, try to find a simple reward that you get every time you do a specific thing. Take your workout for example. If you’ve been dreading the gym and started to miss out, find a simple reward that you can get excited about and do it after your workouts. Maybe it’s a smoothie, or a small ice cream or…whatever. Find something that is a reward and get it after you finish your time at the gym. After a short time you’ll find that an expectation is built for the reward that makes the workout that much more bearable. Have some fun in life and mix things up. Life isn’t meant to be a depressing thing that you just have to do. It’s easy to get caught up in the constant bad news that’s spewed out by the media. Turn it off and find something that builds some excitement in you.

I always like to promote jump rope as a great exercise that you can do. It gets your endorphins cranking, allows you to be creative and can be a lot of fun once you get into it. Expect a great week, then make it happen.