Wake up Smiling

Every morning when I wake up, the very first thing I see is a sign on my wall with a bunch of inspirational phrases in different fonts and sizes. But, being the person I am, I usually focus on the one on top (because more than one is waaay too difficult to remember). It reads: “wake up smiling,” so that is exactly what I strive to do every day when I wake up: smile. But I can’t say I have always had this sign, and I also can’t say I have ALWAYS woken up smiling. In fact, it used to be far from smiling.

When I was a kid, even up until about two years ago when I received this sign from my sister, I had the WORST attitude when I woke up in the morning. Not only did people want to avoid me for over an hour after I woke up, they wanted to be over a mile away from me. My family can vouch for me on that one. I had a case of the crabbys every morning, and it seemed like nothing could stop that from happening.

One day, my mom began to realize my attitude was affecting my personality and the events happening around me. Being that she and my dad are both teachers, they are always looking for ways to educate those around them, especially their own children in struggling times. This meant it was time for me to get a talking-to. I’ll never forget that in every situation I was down in the dumps, my mom would tell me (in different tones of voice depending on the situation): “Tomorrow is a new day, and your attitude when you wake up will determine what the rest of your day is like.” Again, being the sassy teenager I was, I would take this frequent comment from my mom as a “typical teacher move” and ignore it, waking up even grumpier than usual and choosing to NOT change my outlook on life. 

However, I didn’t realize that because my mom had this positive attitude she was and continues to be one of the happiest and most grateful people at all times in everything. Not only does she see the good in bad things, but she also sees negative experiences as growing times. This leads her to have a contagiously happier life and make those around her strive to have good attitudes as well.

Recently, I heard a shocking fact that only 13% of the United States workforce is passionate about their jobs. It makes me think about the attitude people are waking up and going to work with. Are they in the same boat I was in? Work performance is known to raise when we are passionate about our jobs. This is why my mom “hasn’t worked a day in her life,” because she truly loves what she does with her students each and every day through the challenges. Without an attitude like my mom has about life and her passion for students, what is the point in doing what we do?


My mom is willing to have a good attitude when she wakes up, and she continues to have great day after great day, regardless of what happened yesterday or the day before. I realized after about the hundredth time of my mom telling me “tomorrow is a new day” and showing me it is true that I could enact that belief in my life and it made all the difference. I began to love the work I did every morning in school and strive to make an awesome day no matter where I was. What steps can we take to make sure that every morning, we wake up smiling and have a good day?

Stationed by the Door,

Madeline Weninger