Making
Adjustments
“If
Mondays were shoes, they'd be Crocs.”
Poster
Online
Monday
morning is a transition point that nobody much likes. After the
freedom of the weekend, who wants to drag out of bed, climb into the
pantyhose and heels, (or socks and work-boots) and head out to work.
Lots of people in this part of the world spent this weekend putting
in their urban garden—perfect weather for it, cool and sunny. Made
you want to be outside in your grubby jeans and t-shirt digging in
the dirt. But now, it's Monday; we're sore from all that stooping and
digging, and what lies ahead is five days of eight to five. Did I
hear a collective groan?
Some
of us, the weirdest of us no doubt, look forward to Mondays.
Neurotic, strange and unfortunate, you say. Some of us don't
especially like the social merry-go-round of weekends. We eat too
much, we drink too much, and get up on Monday feeling the effects of
“too muchness.” Some of us don't like unstructured time. We have
difficulty shutting off the work speed and finding the relaxation
pace, especially in a two-day turn around. For us hyper-busy types,
it takes more than two days to gear down to idle.
A
friend told me yesterday that she is afraid of retiring—afraid
she'd just lie on the couch and do nothing. Believe it or not, being
non-productive is a terrifying thought for many people. We are
steeped in a culture that says you must produce or you are
useless—must be an evolutionary vestige from when we were ants!
Some of us, myself included, have to work at being
non-productive—part of our spiritual practice is to spend ten
minutes a day doing absolutely nothing—and it is painful!
Those
who live for the weekend, on the other hand, have to practice not
hating the five days of the week that require disciplined
productivity. Disney World beckons. The beach, the beach! Is it
Friday, yet? Monday's are excruciating. It takes until at least
Wednesday to get back in the saddle.
Isn't
it amazing that life dishes up exactly what we need to keep us
uncomfortable enough to need a spiritual practice? We have to make
adjustments to our psyche no matter what kind of person we are, what
we love and what we hate. That discomfort keeps us aware of our own
temperament, our own feelings, so that we don't simply function on
auto-pilot. Being a human being requires a Monday morning transition
for all of us. Strap on those Crocs and go!
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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