Monday Morning Reflections

There is a somewhat universal sense that Monday is a tough day. I have already had four conversations today and in every one at some point in the conversation we talked about the difficulties of the coming week or just the difficulty of getting through a Monday morning. The fact that Mondays are tough should come as no surprise to us. Most of us begin our week on Monday and we tend to be reflective about what the week may bring and generally, most of us do not approach the beginning of the week with much optimism.

I am no different than the average person in this regard. I find Monday to be oppressive in the sense that on Monday I am forced to deal with the realities of life. Monday has a way of being full of could of, should of and wish I had kinds of thoughts. On Monday my worry meter is usually pegged hard in the red zone as I think through all of the looming disasters. This matter is complicated by the fact that most Mondays my body is tired from the weekend and the way that I allow myself to get out of sync. I eat and sleep differently on the weekend and the effects of that always become obvious to me on Monday morning. This is a pattern of which I am aware but I have yet to change.

I thought that today I would capitalize on our normally reflective mood for Monday morning. Today my writing will be brief as I would much rather you spend your time thinking. You probably have a world of issues that you are facing today but if you have taken the time to read this then you have already decided to take a break. I want you to capitalize on your time here today by committing to undertake a number of activities. Most of the activities require you to answer some questions. These are unscientific questions but are things that I was thinking about yesterday and today.

I started this process last night so I am a bit ahead of you. Read each of the questions listed and spend a few moments reflecting on the answers. Don’t hurry your way through this. Even though I started last night I have only completed three of the activities as I write this. My goal is to complete the list by the end of the day. I think that for you a goal of completing this by tomorrow morning is reasonable. The list follows:

Choose three words that describe you. Ask your closest friend and one family member to do the same. Compare the list.

What is it that you do that makes you unique?

If you could put together your own group of highly talented people for any purpose you wished what would the individual talents of those people be? Would you place yourself in the group? Limit the group to five people.

Have you ever admitted that you have failed at something in your life?

How did you handle that failure?

If you knew that you were going to die within days, what people would you need to talk to and what would you say to them?

At your funeral, there will be four speakers. One will be from your childhood, one from High School, One from your work or social life, and one from your family. What will these people say about you?

What three things do you really want to do with your life that you have yet to do?

Commit to thirty minutes of silence today. No noise and no distractions. Write down your thoughts after the time is up.

After the completion of these exercises, take a moment to pray. In your prayer make no requests but express your reflections on this day.

The purpose of these questions is to raise our consciousness beyond our present and begin to think about the future. When we focus on the end of our lives we can have a clearer sense of direction for the present. Perhaps the issues and problems you face today are critical, but often times they pale in comparison to the rest of our lives.

Maybe we should use Monday to focus on the end rather than the beginning. I hope that after you complete this exercise your focus and your perspective will have shifted moving you in a different direction.