Don’t just live for the weekend—live for today!

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One Thursday I heard a disc jockey on a radio station exclaiming that it was almost Friday, almost the weekend. It got me thinking about how we give Monday a bad rap. I suppose this is because it is the day most people return to work. Monday signifies the beginning of a long week of hard work. The countdown begins.

We even have songs about this such as Loverboy’s song with the lyric, “Everybody’s working for the weekend”. I know I look forward to Saturday which is a break in the normal routine. Each of us is looking forward to something.

Different work schedules bring different days off so Saturday and Sunday may not be your weekend. Yet whatever the day or days off are, we anticipate that day off from work so we can spend time with family and friends or tackle some other project at home.

How might our lives change if we adapted different attitudes and rejoiced in the day given? Today won’t come again. We have unique opportunities each day despite that we may feel it is another mundane, routine kind of day. We could impact someone in a profound way just by caring. Imagine how happy we would be if we were always excited for today and looking forward to tomorrow with pleasure.

Humans were created to work. It isn’t a punishment. It’s a gift. If someone cannot work for some reason, say an injury or disability, the person may become depressed because most people seek to be useful, to contribute something. A full day’s work, accomplishing tasks, makes people feel fulfilled and happy if they enjoy their work. When my boys had summer labor jobs, the ones who remembered the rewards of the paycheck paying for school and making the best of a job they found boring were happier than the ones who only looked at what they disliked. Everybody needs an attitude adjustment or a reminder of what to be grateful for at times.

I remember the times when my husband was laid off. When you don’t have that job, you miss it. When I went from working to staying home, I had an adjustment period. I didn’t look at my work at home the same as my work outside the home, though both are valuable. It was my need to feel that I was making a valuable contribution that seemed threatened. Homemakers and stay-at-home moms are working hard serving their families. Everyone looks forward to days off because we all need those days of rest. Of course, now many people expect two days of rest when some only get one, which has a historical precedent: six days we work, but on the seventh, we rest.

Perhaps this is why I advise young people to choose their careers based on what they love to do so that work will be a joy and satisfaction, something to jump out of bed for.

Every day is a gift. I want to embrace each day with peace and happiness. We should make the most of each blessed day because we aren’t promised tomorrow. What can I do today to make a difference? Let us give our best in everything we do. Don’t waste the week on regrets and thinking you can only enjoy yourself on the weekend. Enjoy your work! Enjoy today!