My iPhone starts ringing and even when I open my eyes, it’s as if they were closed. Needles drop on the ceiling. After peaking my foot out from the heated den I call my bed, even the normal temperature of my house feels too cold.
I roll over and try to savor the next nine minutes of hibernation.
But it’s Monday. And the battle between my alarm clock and myself is a losing one – it goes off again, I snooze again. It goes off, unwilling to be defeated, and suddenly my brain surrenders – I do have somewhere to be today (my job), and I need to leave in… 1 hour.
Something to take into consideration: last night, as I concluded my ‘bedtime yoga,’ relaxed during my customary ‘Sunday night facial’ and absorbed Oprah’s more-than-inspiring Golden Globes speech, I felt zen. I felt at peace. Relaxed, happy, and ready to take on the week – in fact, maybe even the world. As I snuggled up into bed, I thought to myself: Yes, tomorrow – I’m going to embrace the morning!
And that? I did not.
So the point? It’s Monday. The day that most dread, many could not care less about, and the majority would prefer didn’t symbolize the negativities of their lives.
But, instead of actually getting angry at Monday – I’m choosing to laugh at it instead. One of my [many] goals this year is to take care of myself, and that includes mindfulness – choosing positivity over negativity. So, take that, Monday!
However, I must admit – today – this Monday, definitely threw a challenge to my mindset.
I was super excited when I actually looked at the weather for once to figure out how to dress appropriately (the sound of pounding rain was a solid reminder). I proudly put on my rain boots, my trench coat and …
After frantically climbing through the coat closet, I came to find an umbrella was no where to be found. Snap.
I chose to focus on the positive – I had Whole30 Meal Prepped for the entire week! I was bringing shoes to change into at the office! I even packed my gym bag! I could endure a couple minutes of rain sans umbrella on my way to work – no problem. Determined, I ventured out into the h2O storm, confident and ready to take on the day.
But once sitting in the car and pulling out of the drive way, I saw the light in my bathroom on.
I quickly ran back into the house and returned to the car. Ready!
Oh snap. My headphones.
Ran back into the house and returned to the car. Ready!
Did I actually lock the door this time?
Back to the house and returned to the car. (And can I also mention how much more of a burden getting in and out of a car/running back and forth is in a pair of knee high rain boots?) Ready!
All was good. Got to the Bart. Parked my car. Walked to the entrance and…
You see, to use the BART, you need your BART card… any credit card… or even just straight up cash. Myself? I had none. I could hear my wallet crying for me all the way from home.
Ran back to the car. Drove the car. Ran back to the house. Grabbed the wallet. Returned to the car and continued on my way.
So, after returning to the BART and waiting in the rain for 3 minutes (not long, but when you’re getting wet and need to look presentable, sort of feels like a lifetime), I smiled. Because instead of getting angry at the world, putting myself down for my 3 mistakes (actually 4… but who’s counting? Not me!), hair getting wet by the minute – I thought: Hey, at least my hair is in a bun. At least I’m here, choosing laughter over anger (and what a better morning it made it be). And I remembered a sign I saw in the Mission District last month:
I get stressed. I overthink everything. I believe everything should have been done the day before. I want a house with interior decoration like I see on Pinterest, and as clean as I see on Pinterest – and I’m sure you all also have your less-than-perfect-quirks. But when you’re able to change your mindset on something so small, like your Monday mornings – and force yourself to smile through it, it can change your entire day. Heck, maybe week.
So yes, maybe I wasn’t entirely doing ‘fucking great’ but I was doing it. I was living and I was being positive and I was making damn sure there were no problems that morning – because really, in the scheme of things, there weren’t.
(And since I’m sure you on the edge of your seat, I indeed DID get an umbrella and it was a lovely walk into work).
And what about this? Here’s a blog post and it hasn’t been a year. Cheers to that!
Happy Monday, people. (Thank goodness it’s 6 days away now.)