Dear Monday,
You can be a huge pain in the butt. You can be a burden. You are the dreaded reminder that a free-spirited weekend does not last forever, but only for a few short days. Monday, you get a lot of flack, and maybe you don’t deserve it. You get our grumpy, sleep-wiped eyes each morning, complaints of the commute to work and the long week ahead. You get a lot of kicking, cursing, and a lot of the blame.
It’s not you, it’s me.
Today is not only Monday, but it is the first day of summer. So, not only is it another Monday to cross off our calendars, but it just to happens that it is the longest Monday of the year. Essentially, it is the worst possible kind of Monday to exist. However, it doesn’t have to be.
Now that summer has, finally, rolled around the bend, it’s time for a change. It’s not only a new season, but it is a new age to be alive. A new chance to start fresh after all that spring cleaning. If you know me, you know that I make a lot of lists. I hate forgetting things. I make lists for anything and everything – what I need to get done that day, pros and cons, grocery, reasons to be alive, reasons to be happy, things to look forward to. It just helps. It’s the same kind of idea that if my room doesn’t look like a nuke exploded in there that I have my life together (sort of).
Well, here I am making a list out here for all of you. I’m making a list of things I want to give up this summer and things I really want to start doing. I guess you could say it’s like a mid-summer lenten season.
1. I’m giving up holding back.
There are too many things I let hold me back, and the number one fan on the top of that list is fear. I am afraid of a lot of things – snakes, tornados, someone breaking into my house, the dark. I am Chuckie Finster in his prime. I am so incredibly afraid of failing. I am terrified of wasting my talents and my gifts simply because I was too scared to open myself up to change. Because I was too scared to make the phone call. Because I was uncomfortable, or felt awkward. Well, the truth is, life is always going to feel that way when you try something new. Open yourself up to new experiences and don’t let your anxiety get the best of you.
2. I’m adding a healthy lifestyle.
Not just physically, but mentally, too. I’ve found that with a physically healthy and active lifestyle comes a mentally active and healthy one as well. I want more of that. I want to feel good and energized; enough with the laziness and putting things off to tomorrow. Enough of waiting for the ‘right time’ to start something. At the young age of twenty, I’ve learned that there is no right time for anything – so suck it up, take a deep breath, and make like Nike – just do it. But remember, it’s always okay to eat the ice cream.
3. I’m giving up on my haters, but thanking them from the finish line.
There’s no point in stressing yourself out about people who aren’t even concerned about you. What’s the point in focusing on the negative people only creating a negative environment and attitude for yourself? Ain’t nobody got time for that. Everyone has haters; everyone has critics. Embrace it, but don’t let it control you. In a way, be thankful for them, because they are a part of the reason you pushed yourself forward. Keep shining. It’s time to let go of the past and say, “Bye Felicia!”
4. I’m adding more of God.
What I’ve realized quite a lot recently is that allowing God into your life is a choice, but he’s never that far away. A professor at my college once told me that you can only push God an arm’s length away. Only an arm’s length. No matter how angry you are at Him, or if you’ve forgotten Him for a period of time, or if you’ve felt like you really can’t feel his presence – he’s there. Only as far as you choose to push Him away. I’m adding more of God into my life. I want to feel his presence. I always though that praying for yourself was kind of selfish when there are a whole lot of people who have it worse than I do. My Campus Ministry Director taught me that it is never selfish to pray for yourself. I told her I could not feel God’s magic and grace in my life , and she told me to pray to feel it. Pray for strength. Pray for guidance. I need ya, big guy, this relationship is NOT over. I am the clingy girlfriend who won’t stop calling. I pray you still pick up the phone, no matter how many times I get your voicemail.
5. I’m giving up being defined by the rut.
I refuse to let my life be defined by the ten-minute intervals before the next alarm goes off beside me. I refuse to keep blaming Mondays for all of my problems. It’s time for a change, and there is no better day to begin than right now. The birds are chirping and the sun is peeking through your blinds. Open them. Embrace this Monday and the one after that, and so forth. Brew some coffee, pour some Cheerios in a bowl and get crackin’ on the journey that is today. It isn’t always going to be easy, but it’s always going to be worth it. I believe in you, and so does everyone else. Turn off the blues this Monday, clear the fog (and the sleep) from your eyes, and blast your favorite song. I’ll be blasting Forever by Chris Brown, because that will forever and always BE. MY. JAM. Stay young and go dancing, friends.
Keep swimming,
Amanda
soul.dier scripts 