mood magic

I keep thinking about a term I read long ago in a book called Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.
That term was "wrestling with the tofu" (or how about "wrestling with the futon"-ever tried to move one?)
It's the process that one's mind can go through when sitting down to meditate.
Or in my case, trying to overcome inertia or grumpiness.

Rather than wrestling with my own mind (sounds so complicated), I resort to linguistic tricks.
When I am sitting on the couch with my laptop and need to get up and get moving,
telling myself "You know you need to go EXERCISE" just makes me feel teenage rebellious.

So instead I use...it's time for a little Mood Magic!
Once my shoes are on and I'm out the door (with my trusty big brown dog), I feel instantly better.
And that elevation lasts for hours. Effects are doubled when the sun appears along the way.

Minou used to complain when I headed out the door to jog, leaving him alone with two tiny p'tit minous.
He learned over time to say "Good for you--it's good for your heart".
These days I bet he's pretty glad for the existence of Mood Magic.
I'm much nicer to live with because of it.

Some days he even says "Don't you want to start your day with a jog?"

How about you? What's your Mood Magic?