Mondays

So last night, just before bed, I thought to myself, "Here we go, another Monday. Back to the ol' grind!"

I kind of thought the same thing this morning as I woke up (tired after not sleeping long enough, as usual). I then had the thought, "What's so bad about Mondays?" So here's why I think Monday's aren't my favorite day of the week. Don't know if this applies to anyone else's attitude, but it certainly is true for me.

• First of all, just like I thought last night, Monday is the day you start it all over again. Don't get me wrong. I like my job. But to be perfectly honest, I like NOT going to work even better! So the thought that goes through my head on Monday morning is OK, 5 days of going to work coming!


• Next, and related to the previous one, is this. I absolutely love family time. I may not always make the most of it, but I love being at home (or out and about) with the whole family. It makes me happy to be around my wife and kids. Monday, when I go back to work, starts a week of NOT being around them very much. On work days, I leave for work before most of them are awake, and I get home after they've started dinner most days. I sit down and eat with them, help clean up the kitchen (sometimes) and then it's almost time for the bedtime routine. Sheesh


• I think everyone loves the weekend, and Mondays are the day that is furthest from the next coming weekend.


• I don't know about anyone else, but when I'm not at work, like when I take a day off, I have an "inbox" that is pretty ridiculous. It grows very fast. Often times, in fact, I get calls from work to resolve immediate problems. I always have a bunch of email to go through and requests or questions to handle. Well, even if it was just over the weekend, it seems like this is true. It takes a little extra time each Monday to get through with everything so I can really dive in and start working on my main work.

OK, so after all that, I started feeling like yeah, I'm pretty justified to not like Mondays, right? Well, I like to be both optimistic and fair, so I started thinking a little more about why I should have a better attitude about Mondays, and here's the list I came up with. I'm not sure there is enough to tip the scales on my feelings about Mondays, but maybe they're not as bad as I make them out to be in my head.

• First off, as I mentioned before, I really enjoy spending time with my family. The fact that it's Monday tells me that I've most likely just spent the last 2 days with my family. It is a time with funny memories (trust me, most of the time we are all together, there are funny memories) and just a general joy in my heart after spending time with them.


• Family Home Evening (FHE). It took us a long time to get into a routine of holding a regular FHE, but once we did (and I give most of the credit to my wife for that), I look forward to it. It is difficult to have a FHE without some frustration (yeah, I never realized how difficult some things can be with small children), but at the same time, it is an opportunity to realize that we are trying to do what is right, and teach our children about things that are important to us. Love it. I look forward to FHE, and that could be more prevalent in my mind when I think about Mondays.


• This one is related to the first reason, but I have just spend Sunday renewing my spirit. I love doing the "Church" thing, and I love that spending the day with my family doing things I wouldn't normally do on any other day (even Saturday) is a wonderful thing. My spirit is "charged up" and ready to go for the next week.


• Finally, Monday is kinda like the Spring, or New Year's of the week. It's a fresh start, a new beginning. Sure a week's kind of a small scale to be thinking about that way, but nonetheless, I often go to work with a fresh perspective and new determination to get things done that week. I make small plans and goals for that week, and I generally spend a little time on Monday just sort of organizing myself, and knowing what all I have to do for that week.

Anyway, after all is said and done, I think Mondays aren't so bad after all.

But I wouldn't complain if every day was Friday, either.