Excerpt: Joel Osteen's 'Every Day a Friday'


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 depen¬dent 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 deliv¬ery 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 pro¬gram 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.

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