The Problem With Thursdays
Well, here we are again- Day 4 of NaBloPoMo, and my least favorite day of the week- Thursday. You might be asking, “What in the world is wrong with Thursday? Thursday is Friday Junior! Don’t be silly!” Well, I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off of work, so Thursday is my Monday. Following along so far? In addition to returning to work after two days off, Thursdays used to have all sorts of other problems. In my brief and unexciting triathlon phase, Thursday was a swimming day. I tried to rearrange that, but because of the logistics of long runs, bike rides and my work schedule, I had to swim on Thursday. This meant getting up at 5 and driving to the pool in the dark, before rushing home to get the kids up and ready for school. Then, my daughter used to take horseback riding lessons on Thursdays after school. Once again, not my choice of scheduling- it was just the way it had to be. Somehow this involved me standing out in the hot sun, watching her ride a horse. Of course I wanted her to have that opportunity- just not necessarily on that day. So my Thursdays started with a 5 am swim, continued on with work, leading into a horseback riding lesson, and then of course home to somehow get dinner on the table. No wonder I dreaded it! Now my son is in college so I only have one kid at home. My daughter no longer rides a horse (phew) and I came to my senses about that triathlon thing (it just wasn’t for me.) I also have a new system of preparing an extra-large dinner on Wednesday so we can have leftovers on Thursday. My job isn’t bad at all. I work as a massage therapist, so it can be tiring, but the good thing is that I get to move around a lot (as opposed to sitting all day.) My boss can be kind of… bossy… but she’s okay. My coworkers are nice people, and my clients are interesting. My Thursdays are so much easier than they used to be. So what do I have to complain about? One day I was listening to Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast, and they were discussing the issue of “Sunday depression.” One listener absolutely hit the nail on the head when she said “I get depressed about going back to work on Monday because it means my time is no longer my own.” THAT’S IT. It’s not that my Thursdays are bad, or stressful, or extremely unpleasant- it’s just that I have to follow someone else’s rules and schedule. My Tuesdays and Wednesdays are nice, although a lot of times I’m doing errands, going to doctor’s appointments or doing house chores- but my time is still my own, and it’s hard when that ends. So what should I do? The older I get, the more I’m aware that our days are numbered- not in a morbid way, but it’s a fact for all of us. I don’t want to “throw away” every Thursday by just wishing to get through it as fast as possible. I don’t want to look back and say that I only fully lived 6/7ths of my life- I want to live the whole thing. Easier said than done, but I’m committing to giving Thursdays some love from now on. I’m going to appreciate the time I do have to myself, before and after work, and while I’m at work I’m going to make those hours count as well. How about you- do you like your job? Do you get depressed about going back to work on Monday (or whatever day your “Monday” is?) If you’ve faced this issue and conquered it, do you have any tips?