Every Day A Friday

PART 1: Don’t Give Away Your Power
1. Make Every Day a Friday,
2. Don’t Give Away Your Power
3. Express Your Joy
4. Bloom Where You Are Planted
5. Enjoy the Journey

PART 2: Know What to Ignore
6. The Right Perspective
7. Know What to Ignore
8. Silencing the Voice of the Accuser
9. A No-Excuses Life
10. You Can Have the Last Laugh

PART 3: Live Without Crutches
11. Living Without Crutches
12. Don’t Live for the Approval of Others
13. Freedom from Competition
14. Connecting with the Right People

PART 4: Travel Light
15. Forgive So You Can Be Free
16. Overcoming Discouragement
17. Dealing with Unexpected Difficulties
18. Don’t Have a Critical Spirit
19. See Through Eyes of Love

PART 5: Laugh Often
20. The Healing Power of Laughter
21. Smile, and the World Smiles with You

PART 6: Be A Dream Releaser
22. Help Others to Win
23. Be a People Builder
24. Living as a Healer

PART 7: Celebrate Yourself
25. Encourage Yourself
26. The Voice of Victory
27. Wear Your Blessings Well

Joel Osteen starts his ‘Every Day A Friday’ video with the observation that people are ‘10% happier on Fridays’. It’s the sort of thing we all ‘know’ to be true from our own experience – we don’t need statistics to back it up. However, now that we know Fridays are 10% happier, how much happier are Saturdays and Sundays? And assuming that weekend days are significantly happier than weekdays, why hasn’t he written a book called ‘Everyday A Saturday or A Sunday’… or a Bank Holiday Monday, Christmas Day or the most obvious Christian ‘happy day’ of all, Easter Sunday?

The answer might be in what Joel Osteen – and you and I, think is special or at least different about Friday. I’m guessing that Osteen is relating his title to the ‘traditional’ 5 day week working culture of the fast disappearing western industrialised society. If you work some kind of rolling shift pattern, work for yourself or can’t find work at all, then this title might not be as inspiring as the author hopes. But supposing that you do have a ‘standard’ 9 to 5 Monday to Friday working week, then what is Friday? It’s the last day of work; so why should that make you 10% happier? Joel seems to be assuming that we don’t actually enjoy work – which again raises the question I started with, why don’t we try to make ‘Every Day a Weekend Day’ instead?

Assuming this increasingly unrealistic working pattern, then Friday has something that no other day of the week has – including weekend days. I’d suggest that what that is, is potential; it has something to look forward to that hasn’t happened yet. On Friday we can have expectations as yet unrealised. We can imagine a weekend that’s perfect – as relaxing as we need, as satisfying as we hope and as fulfilling as we want it to be. Of course, when it comes – and when it’s gone, the weekend isn’t always everything we wanted it to be. But it doesn’t stop us being equally hopeful when the next Friday comes along. It seems to me that there’s nothing human beings enjoy more than the imagined future. So what does that say about Christians and our hope of heaven?

Christians already live everyday as though it’s Friday – looking forward to something that hasn’t yet come, but is always somewhere in our future imaginings. Unlike Saturday and Sunday, we don’t generally want heaven to come at the end of this week. Looking forward isn’t a uniquely human trait. I’ve known dogs that look forward to their owner’s return; becoming more excited with every minute past the expected time of reunion. You only have to stand near the lion enclosure at the zoo to see the inmates clearly anticipating the hour of their feeding. So if animals and especially humans are designed to look forward, and find a degree of happiness in looking forward, what do we look forward to once we’re already in heaven? I don’t know. Maybe heaven is one perpetual Friday afternoon, the everlasting Christmas Eve, an eternal eagerness to look into the empty tomb? Who knows? But I think the point is – and might also be what’s driving Joel Olsteen’s ‘Every Day A Friday’, looking forward makes for a happier life here on earth. Anticipating future happiness can translate into perpetual happiness in anticipation of a final, everlasting happiness in heaven. – Les Ellison

‘Every Day A Friday’ is Joel Osteen’s response to studies that show we’re happier on Fridays - he wants us to experience this happiness every day, not just one day a week.

Joel describes how changing our mindset can lead to greater happiness. In seven parts, he carefully explains how we might adopt a different attitude, resulting in living happier lives. Joel’s stories illustrate the points he makes very well, getting his message across clearly and memorably.