Turning Over A New Leaf

Monday mornings oftentimes stir grumpiness when the alarm clock sounds, the garbage truck revs outside, and the cat or dog scratch at the bedroom door after hearing you complain about getting out of bed.

The blues don’t only strike at the beginning of the work week, listening to Billie Holiday or Phyllis Hyman, but times when we’re faced with things and people we’d rather not.

What is it specifically about Mondays that cause us to reach over and press the snooze button for the third time before we stumble to the kitchen to eat a bowl of Cheerios or Wheaties that we hope will ignite the brain cells?

Do we think that five more minutes will change our disposition, or perhaps when we wake it will still be Sunday, with another day to prepare for the week?

I've been jogging off and on over the last few weeks to recondition my mind and body. Exercise does a body good, if I can get to bed at a reasonable time the night before rather than trying to catch up on Netflix DVD's that have a fine coating of dust from having rested on the entertainment center for two weeks. The mornings I jog the reservoir, there's a difference in that day's perspective and productivity.

I thought I'd be inspired by the recent Beijing Olympics, but there was too much pressure trying to compare myself to those determined speed walkers.

Monday mornings can be a fork in the road for some. Tasks left undone from the previous weekend or week come to the forefront of the mind, so we want to burrow underneath the pillow rather than confront the task list in Outlook or Post-Its lining the perimeter of the flat panel monitor.

It doesn't help living in the past, nor does it help overextending yourself with too many projects. I've been working on saying no more often, rather than trying to be a people pleaser, afraid of hurting someone's feelings. This character flaw has its origins in Southern Guilt and Hospitality. I'm not a bed-and-breakfast, and have to stop behaving as if I were.

I'll reorder my priorities so that I can spring out of bed more mornings than not, unafraid of who will call or which e-mails will arrive. Besides, if I want to accomplish half of my goals, I'll have to combat my Monday blues, as I'm sure some of you are dealing with people and things that are rushing through your mind like a pinball machine.