Smile.

Smiling makes me happy.
When I'm happy, I smile.
It's a wonderful circle.

Some other wonderful things:

Singing in church
Drying my face off with a towel from the dryer after a shower
Clean laundry
Double checking an outfit in Jess' mirror
Those "Five more minutes" before saying goodnight
Butterflies dancing their way to my heart
Not noticing silence because I'm too busy smiling
Falling asleep to stories about a little Czar Princess
Hearing excited voices saying "Hi Miss V!!"
Helping build the confidence of a 5th grade girl
Always believing in myself.
Always trusting myself.
Knowing I can do anything.

Those last three came from Tiana, one of the 5th graders I helped today. We were talking about her addition test she took. She had missed nearly half of the problems so I was working with her one-on-one to find the problem and ways to fix it. After we reviewed the addition for about 20 minutes we talked about test taking strategies. We came up with some helpful hints such as "take your time", " Take a deep breath when needed" and "have confidence". She had about half of an index card filled so I suggested that she write a note of affirmation to herself to remind her that she can be successful since her confidence was definitely diminishing with each assessment test given. Without anything else said, she wrote:

"I believe in myself. I trust myself. I can do anything"

She quietly looked up for her next instructions. I had her read it out loud and then had her add exclamation marks. She did so and smiled up at me. I told her to keep working hard and we "pounded it". She seemed happy as she went back to her desk and at lunch time she sat by everyone and joined in the conversation a bit. She is one of the more isolated and shy students with a great heart. It was a great day for me. I hope she had fun.

And now it's time for a nap :)

I love this.