No such thing as Friday
Happy Friday 13th.
We love Fridays, don't we? We have this kind of pendulum that exists from Monday to Friday each week, swinging between the Sunday Scaries and Manic Mondays, through the mid-week Hump Day all the way to Friyay!
But did you know there's no such thing as Friday? Or Monday, for that matter. Shakespeare knew this when he wrote “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”.
Poor Mondays. Tainted over time; branded as universally unlovable; a day that has to be endured rather than enjoyed. Sounds a bit like ‘mundane’; can feel a bit like it too. Stretching so far from the weekend; Saturday like some distant holiday. Heavy with the weight of the week and the apprehension of to-do lists.
When did it become like this? Is it just me, or does it also throw you off when you see a calendar that puts Sunday at the start of the week?
You know it doesn't have to be like this. Christmas is on a Wednesday and most of us won't be at work. We'll get lost in the days of the week between Christmas and New Year's and we'll be saying things like “Oh, I thought it was Thursday today!”
What if we went into Mondays thinking it was Friday? How does our energy change? What would you feel shift if I told you today was Monday? Look how much we attach to a day of the week.
On its own, Monday does not need to be so different to Friday. In fact, it's the same. One day to the next. If we are living in the present, there is no dread about the week ahead or excitement for the weekend: there is just today. Why wish the week away and decide it'll just be another manic Monday? Why constantly look forward to the weekend, as if days of the week are just something we need to get through?
My point is that these things are merely constructs that only have as much meaning as we deign to give them. There is no reason that Friday needs to be a better day than Monday if we take the day in the fullness of its own merit and choose to be present.
The power to make every day feel equally loved lies within us. We could choose to live as if it were Christmas every day, or even just every Wednesday!
Oscar Wilde said “to define is to limit”. Unlock the potential of your week by doing away with the names that somebody else decided a long time ago.
Enjoyment is for life, not just for Christmas.
Mindful moment: What other boxes might you be putting yourself into? The box that says you shouldn't run every day? The one that says you can't do x on top of your current job? The one that says that cards are only for birthdays, or that you can't have mince pies for breakfast? Examine the confines within which you are living and decide for yourself which to keep and which to disregard. Perhaps there is more choice than you think.
Love, Laura
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Welcome to the Community.
I'm Laura, a yoga teacher and NHS doctor. With this weekly newsletter I aim to help you incorporate mindful moments into your week. I want you to feel inspired, empowered and creative. I promise to always be authentic; to only include content that speaks to me and which, therefore, I hope will do the same for you.
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