A vegan 5 layer carrot cake breaks all caloric rules of engagement. And so…the week begins.

The act of smiling, even when I don’t want to, takes me back to my homeroom teacher.  I came to understand how sharing your constructive thoughts is a generous gesture and needn’t take a large measure of time or effort.

Moreover, in my particular case, I found out many years later that facial muscles can determine your outlook.

In Korean yogic studies, we were educated in smiling yoga. Tradition contends grinning sets off a hormone and changes your mood. Furthermore, during Laughter Yoga years later, I and entire rooms of students befell merriment and optimism as we giggled through our sequences.

Comedians allege audience members who come in with a smile, receive the most pleasure from their jokes.

Mother Teresa in her simple yet infinite wisdom said, “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” She was right and given these points, my homeroom supervisor gave me priceless advice.

I smile to uplift my attitude.

THINK ACTION: Try smiling all day and see how your approach to life brightens. Notice others’ reactions to you. If you are not known for your easy smile, notice how many inquiries and which questions you receive.

“Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.” –  Paramahansa Yogananda

Can you remember someone in your youth who said something remarkable?

I recall a homeroom teacher whom I only saw for ten minutes a day in Junior High. She advised me I looked more approachable when I smiled. She took the time to tell me this somewhere between taking attendance and school announcements.

I must have looked glum, withdrawn or distracted. She was extremely respectful about it.

She said, “Your smile is so expressive and you glow your inner radiance when you smile. You light up the room.”  In a beam of gratitude, I suddenly felt blessed. In fact, her interest, sparked a turnaround in me. I took it as a compliment and from then on, I made it a point to exercise my smile muscles.

A modest kindness can be a game changer. Adult attention and advice, given with dignity and courtesy, can alter a young person’s frame of mind.

Our words and actions matter.

Fortunate, happy people visualize and realize balance in their lives. They nurture deep, personal relationships and weave harmonious souls into the textured stories of their lives. Unless it benefits a loved one, they cordially bow out of situations, occasions and events that may sap their energy. They are balanced, centered and know full well how to revitalize themselves when needed. They remember to breathe profoundly into their bodies and exhale with gratitude.

This is an aspiration. Be the person you want to attract. Invite joy filled beings of light to befriend you. By affirming you are the individual you seek, you become it.

I choose to be in a delightful frame of mind which attracts happiness into my life.

THINK ACTION: Do you recognize the happy people in your life? Are they free of trouble and independently wealthy? Notice how happiness is an attitude, a choice, a state of being rather than dictated by circumstances. Journal your experience.

Content, happy people are grateful, imaginative and energetic. They glow and flow from the inside center. They soar with compliments, ideas and encouragement. They generate higher wavelengths of vibration in a room. They know about potential, productivity and results. They know how to solicit help and value collaboration. They gain inspiration from a variety of sources, including art, people, nature, random acts of kindness, spiritual rituals and libraries of information.