Every single day. No matter if the temperature has dropped down to 37, if the cat bit your toe while you got dressed in the dark at 5AM, if you spilled hot chocolate down the front of your white blouse, if your bedroom window has a draft, if your coworker doesn’t save you a spot at the lunch table—you make the choice, in every moment of every day, to be happy.

This isn’t easy. There will be days were you roll out of bed like a rain-soaked log, drag your feet to the closet and shrug on some wrinkled clothes. There will be days were you just want to sit on the couch, wrapped in blankets, and take a nap. There will be days where things don’t go your way, where you fight with friends, where you lose someone you love—those days will be the hardest. But you have to push through. Find one thing to look forward to, whether that’s sleeping in on a Saturday, a birthday party, or making cookies after work. Something big. Something little. Anything that makes you smile, even if it’s just for a second. Focus on that thing, play it out in your mind—the smell of chocolate floating through your kitchen, the peaceful, warm stretch you’ll do at 11AM on Saturday, waking up in a pillow-nest and just staying snuggled there for a moment, completely content.

Choose to be happy. As the cold weather comes, think of snow, of fires in the living room, of Christmastime with family. When the alarm goes off and the sky’s still dark, think of the opportunity you have to work, to see the sunrise in a few hours, to be productive before the majority of the world even opens their eyes.

Choose to be happy. Appreciate the little things—your significant other’s arm around you as he sleeps, the cute flats you bought that exactly match your shirt, the ‘Happy Halloween’ card you got in the mail from your sister, an email from your old professor, the sandwich you made for today’s lunch. Delight in the fact that you are blessed enough to have these little things. Celebrate the fact that you are alive.

Make a conscious choice to push the negativity out of your mind. Focus on the good, and see the good in others. Be a person of motivation, of happiness, and of light. And despite what is thrown at you, find a way to spin it, to not let it conquer you, to say, ‘I choose to be happy. I choose to smile.’ 🙂

Featured Image Credit: HD Wallpapers.