CHAPTER ONE

Make Every Day a Friday

John was ninety-two years old and blind, but he was just as sharp as could be when his wife, Eleanor, went to the Lord. He didn’t feel he should live alone, so John decided to move into a nice seniors’ home. On the morning of the move, he was up and fully dressed by 8:00 a.m. As always, the elderly gentleman looked impeccable, with his hair perfectly combed and his face neatly shaven.

A cab picked him up and took him to the seniors’ home. John arrived early, as was his habit, and waited more than an hour before a young aide, Miranda, came to show him to his new room. As John maneuvered his walker through the hallways, Miranda described his room in great detail. She said sunlight came in through a big window, and there was a comfortable couch, and a nice desk area.

Right in the middle of her description, John interrupted her and said, “I love it. I love it. I love it.”

Miranda laughed and said, “Sir, we’re not there yet. You haven’t seen it. Hold on just a minute, and I’ll show it to you.”

Happiness is a choice.

John said, “No, you don’t have to show it to me. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It depends on how my mind is arranged. Happiness is something you decide ahead of time.”

As wise old John understood, happiness is a choice. When you wake up in the morning you can choose what kind of day you want to have. You can choose to be in a good mood, or you can choose to be in a bad mood.

Choose Happiness

My purpose in writing this book is to help you arrange your mind so that you choose happiness each and every day. Whatever challenges you may face, whatever circumstances are weighing you down, you can choose your response. How you live your life is totally up to you. It’s not dependent on your circumstances. It’s dependent on your choices. Abraham Lincoln said, “Most people are as happy as they’ve decided to be.”

Honest Abe would have enjoyed a recent study that found happiness increases 10 percent on Fridays. Why is that? People are excited about the coming weekend, so they decide to be happier. They make up their minds on Fridays to enjoy their lives more.

I challenge you to let every day be a Friday. Give yourself permission to be happy every day. Not just on the weekends. Not just when you have a special event. Not just when you’re on vacation.

If you have the right mind-set, you can be just as happy on Monday as you are on Friday. The Scripture doesn’t say, “Friday is the day the Lord has made.” It says, “This is the day the LORD has made” (Psalm 118:24 NKJV; emphasis added).

This means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and every other day of the week. You can be happy even when it’s raining, when you have to work late, or when you have to do the dishes.

Why don’t you make up your mind to be happy every day? You’ve heard the saying “TGIF. Thank God it’s Friday.” For you and me it also should be, “TGIM. Thank God it’s Monday.”

“TGIW. Thank God it’s Wednesday.”

“TGIS. Thank God it’s Sunday.”

Another study said there are more heart attacks on Monday than on any other day. So many people just decide that Monday is a stressed-out day. They suffer the Monday morning blues.

When you wake up on Monday morning, don’t accept those negative thoughts that come knocking on your door, saying, It will be a hard day and a long week. Traffic will be bad. I have so much work to do. I just need to make it through the Monday morning blues. Don’t buy into those thoughts.

Instead, say, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve already answered the door and almighty God, the Creator of the universe, has sent me a hand delivery of joy. I know this will be a great day!”

Decide that for you, there are no Monday morning blues. Instead, choose the Monday morning dos by saying, “I do have a smile. I do have joy. I do have God’s favor. I do have victory.”

Yes, I know some days are more difficult than others. But if you program your mind in a positive way, you won’t have to drag through certain days just hoping to get to Friday so you can finally enjoy life.

Faith is always in the present. Your attitude should be: I’m excited to be alive at this moment. I’m excited to be breathing today. I’m excited about my family, my health, and my opportunities. I have plenty of reasons to be happy right now.

Happiness Is Your Right

According to the authors of the Declaration of Independence, our Creator gave each of us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Even the British prime minister David Cameron recognized this recently when he proposed polling all residents each year to measure their GWB—General Well-Being.

“Well-being can’t be measured by money or traded in markets,” he said in an interview. “It’s about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and, above all, the strength of our relationships.”

A researcher in Australia found that life goals and choices have as much or more impact on happiness than our body chemistry or genetic makeup. Another study found that half of our happiness is determined by factors other than biology. Ten percent is connected to “life circumstances” and the other 40 percent is dependent on our life decisions.

It is your choice to be happy. Make up your mind to enjoy this day, to have a blessed, prosperous, victorious year. You may have some setbacks and your circumstances may change, but don’t let that change your mind. Keep it set on happiness.

It’s not what happens to you or what you have or don’t have that is important; it’s how your mind is arranged and the choices you make. When our daughter, Alexandra, was just a little baby and I’d get her out of her crib in the morning, she’d be so excited to hear me coming, she’d start jumping up and down. She’d give me a great big, full-body hug with her arms and legs, then a big kiss.

Why was she so excited? She was just happy for the dawning of a new day. Alexandra was excited to be alive to have another day to enjoy. That’s the excitement God has placed inside every one of us. We should never forget how to celebrate each day. But so often as we get older, we let the challenges of life push us down and sadden our spirits.

We have to realize every day is a gift from God.

We have to realize every day is a gift from God. Once this day is gone, we can never retrieve it. If we make the mistake of being negative, discouraged, grumpy, or sour, we’ve wasted the day. Some people squander year after year,...