Motivational Monday
Ditch the Crowd
This is a fork in the road moment.
For too many years, I hated to see the end of each weekend. There was never enough time to enjoy all the things I wanted to do. Why? Because the hours between six o’clock on Friday and when the alarm jolted me out of my sleep on Monday morning flew by faster than the Enterprise zipping through universe at warp seven.
And then one day, I saw the title of a book. I didn’t actually read the book. Nope. Just the title. For some reason, it resonated with me – and changed my life. It helped me to take a look at me – and decide what was actually important.
Happiness is a choice…
How many people in your circle hate Mondays? Really. How many? I’m guessing most of them. And if I were to make another guess, the thought of Monday morning ruins at least part of their Sundays. They dislike the workweek so much, they start stressing over it a day early.
That sets up an ugly cycle of living for two days a week, while resenting the rest. Sure, those ‘other days’ are the ones that bring in the money to pay the bills, but all weekend lovers do is endure them until the ‘good days’ come back around.
What kind of life is that?
Think about it for a minute. There are 52 weekends a year. One-hundred and four days. Add another 5 days to that number for major holidays … and that leaves 256 days to dread. Every. Single. Year.
Is that really how you want to spend the rest of your working life? Maybe you’ll get lucky and find a job you love. But what if you don’t?
It’s time to stop dreaming about what might never be…
…and enjoy your life now! At least more than you have been. Unless, of course, you actually enjoy being stressed and unhappy. And some people do. In fact, they thrive on it.
If that’s you, carry on. Whatever floats your boat. If that’s not you, however, it’s time to figure out some ways to stop being miserable as your weekends come to a close.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
- Take pride in your work. Make it your top priority. Maybe this isn’t your first choice of a job, but give it your all. At the end of the day, you can look back with a sense of accomplishment – instead of dragging your butt to your vehicle, weary because you had to slog through another shift.
- If you don’t enjoy being around your co-workers, spend your breaks in a quiet place, or even your vehicle. While there, listen to your favorite music.
- Pray
- Enjoy a few pages of the book you’re currently reading (or listening to)
- Meditate
- Listen to (or watch) a short motivational podcast or video.
- Watch a funny YouTube video. As the old saying goes, laughter really is good medicine.
- Close your eyes and rest – but be sure to set a timer so you don’t fall asleep! Sometimes, a little rest is all you need to refresh yourself – and your outlook.
- Remember, even though there will always be things you can’t change, you can change how you react to it. You can dread and resent parts of your life, or you can look for something – no matter how small – that’s good, and focus on that instead.
- Make sure you schedule time after work to relax for a little while. But also do something you enjoy. Spend time on a hobby, or an activity like running or working out the gym. Whatever you like to do. You don’t have to devote hours to the things you love. Half an hour here, an hour there – it can all help to fill the ‘Bank of (insert name here)’s Happiness.
Try some of these things. Or even just one. If it reduces your misery level by a measly 10%, it’s still an improvement, right?
Need more inspiration?
Click here to read about a man who had every reason to to be unhappy. To live a life that was a perpetual pity party. Instead, he chose to make the best of what he had to work with. He set a high bar for anyone who might want to excel as he did. Let’s hope we’re all people who want to excel and strive for a better, happier life.
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