Trick yourself into having the best.week.ever.

I've got a really simple formula for you. Here goes:

Positive Words + Repetition = Stress-Free Contentment

I'm not making this up, folks. And no, I haven't been reading a bunch of self-help books on my lunch hour lately. I have definitely been praying a lot more though, and as a result my thoughts throughout the day have begun aligning themselves with not only the spiritual presence of God, but also the positive words that I speak throughout the day.

Monday morning at 5am as I turned off my alarm clock, I decided to put a smile on my face. No, I am never happy to be up at 5am, so I just pretended to be. By the time I exited the shower and started doing my hair, I began thinking to myself "I am so happy that the kids are healthy; I am so happy that I have enough eggs in the 'fridge to make some omelettes for breakfast; I can't wait to go to the gym today and exercise to the new songs I downloaded to my playlist; blah blah blah" By the time I finished styling my hair, Chris was already awake. He is not hardly a morning person, and usually grumbles a quick "'morning, babe", as he heads to the shower. But on this particular morning, after he looked at me for a moment, he said, "Good Morning, how are you this morning?! Ready for breakfast?!" Okay, he's NEVER that chipper. My positive demeanor had spread to him in just a matter of seconds!

My son Olan has Chris's personality, so please don't go expecting any type of warm, fuzzy morning talks with Olan. Ever. We woke Olan up and told him that we had breakfast ready and that his favorite show had already started. He flashed the biggest smile ever, and raced off to the bathroom to take care of business before joining us for breakfast. Wow! Even my 3-year old was impacted by the rays of sunshine that had now began to form in our household at 5:40am! Cassie is already chipper in the morning by default, so she only added to the already current of happiness permeating the Gill household.

We all set out on our journey that morning, and the entire day and evening to follow were just as much fun! In fact, every single day this week has followed suit (despite Olan running a temp yesterday due to the onset of a cold; he's much better this morning). And just think, this all stemmed from that fake smile that I put on my face as I woke up Monday morning. Not only that, but if this entire week full of joy stemmed from a Monday morning at 5:00am, then I can only imagine how enjoyable the weekend is going to be! :-)