It's monday here on A Girl Behind a Lens and you know what that means... (hands up if you read that as if you were Daily Grace).

This Monday, the sun's out, you probably won't be at work or school, and so you're day is probably already going great! In my eyes everyone begins to become much happier when summer's approaching, the weathers warm, and we have time to spend with the people closest to us. But, we can't let our happiness ONLY be down to the sun, and the season. We have control of how we feel. Sometimes it might not feel like we do, but believe me we can make a difference to how we feel, whether the sun's out regardless. 

Having done more than half my exams now and only having to go to school for relevant subjects starting June, I am feeling very HAPPY lately and I hope all of you are too, whatever you're doing. I'm someone who believes the smallest change can contribute to our happiness. If you're not feeling as good as you have previously, do something about it!

This post has been a long time coming!

I'm not afraid to admit I've abandoned my 'Merry Monday' posts over the last couple of months and I really don't know why!

Amongst all my posts, 'Merry Monday's' receive the most comments and seem to be one of the most popular posts with my lovely readers (yes, if you're reading this that's you included)! So like always, someone's been looking at some quotes again!

It's that time of the week again which seems to reach us too quickly after the weekend - MONDAY. 

Did you know that most of us don't crack our first smile until 11:16 am on Mondays? Yes, that is as depressing as it sounds. I'm happy to admit that I probably make Mondays one hundred times worse than they really are, but no one wants to go back to school, college, or work after two days off which go by way too fast.

But this isn't just any other Monday, it's a January Monday. The second Monday of the year. To be honest, this may be worse because people are feeling a bit down because they've no money after Christmas or they've broken their New Year's Resolution. In theory it probably doesn't make it any better, but today's a Monday where some of us are still in the New Year's spirit, in which we are enthusiastic about making a change this year; to our lives, our work and our attitudes to anything we wish.

We can make each day our own, in our own way and Monday's just as good as any to start with.

MERRY MONDAY! :) 

So... As the past year nears an end, it's more than likely that a lot of people are asked 'what's your New Year's resolution?'. Every year I give an answer; however, this time I haven't had one to give. I've decided I don't like the idea of resolutions because people make them, already knowing they'll break them (I'm not saying everyone), which I myself admit I've done before.

This year I want to try something different; setting myself small things I'd like to 'achieve' and set them monthly or within a time limit I see necessary. This way I hope that I will achieve more as I won't just tell myself I've got a whole year to try and complete my resolution and so breaking it won't matter. Personally, each year I don't feel a great sense of any achievement really and this year I'd really like to have that. Not only do I wish that these 'little goals' will be easier to reach, but that I can build upon them to make them so much better than I'd first liked! And as I'm sitting here thinking this over as I write, I'm beginning to look forward to these more than I ever have the well known New Year's Resolution. For some of these goals I do have a particular time frame in mind, where as others I'd like to be ongoing and hope become no longer goals but something I just do regularly. Anyway, here are some I've already thought of....

• Blog More: I really do love publishing posts and get a lot of satisfaction from it; so the more I do it, the better. Ideally I'd like to post a lot more than I do but with school AND THEN homework AND THEN the revision I'm expected to do, I don't have a lot of spare time to write about stuff which has nothing to do with poetry or the functions of cells. So this goal isn't huge, but I'm setting myself the '2 posts a month' goal which doesn't seem much at all really but then I guess it's just easier to achieve! :)

• Be More Organised: My Mum is the most organised person I know, it's amazing how she can fit everything in and arrange it so well. Unfortunately, I haven't inherited this trait from her as I leave everything until the last minute and forget so much. I wouldn't say my life's hectic, but it would be so much easier if I was organised (I'm including tidier in this) and less stressful, which leads on to my next goal/achievement thingy. So because of this, I'm hoping to organise what I do, when I do it. Also having to organise a party for my Mum's birthday with my Dad soon means I need to get some practice in organising myself before I have to organise him too! (HELP!)

• Stress Less: I get stressed regularly which I'm always getting told isn't good for me. I'm not 100% sure why I get stressed but whatever it is I make it so much worse for myself. I over think a hell of a lot and I'm one of those people who will end up becoming stressed because they're stressed (make sense?). I'm 16, and stress really isn't something I should be having a lot of. As well as being more organised, which I'm sure will help with this, I need to start allowing 'me time' where I'm not doing something which HAS to be done and just take some of the pressure off of myself.

• Spend More Time With Friends: Luckily my friends don't add to my stress and most of them are pretty laid back. Spending more time with them and forgetting about everything else I need to do will definitely help me feel so much happier and stress free!

• Make January A Better Month: After Christmas my family aren't the most cheerful people, most people aren't. It feels a bit like they're half hibernating.. I don't know, it's weird. I must admit, I end up feeling like this too once Christmas is over  (and I'm not the one who's spent a lot of money). :( So this year I'm going to try and bring out the best in January and hopefully get them to see it too! :)

So what does 'merry' even mean?

When I hear the word it just reminds me of when Mum gets a bit tipsy, but I don't think even alcohol will help me with those Monday blues. 

According to my good friend Google, 'merry' means: