Its Monday morning. The most common day to hear groans, complaints, and just plain negativity as our feet drag back into the office. But not in our office. “Today is the day where we get to jump in again! Its the day we feel refreshed and ready to go!” –Gross. That even sounded disgustingly cheery in print.
But here’s the deal. Every morning- Monday or not- we get the choice. We get the choice to say “I have to go to work,” or “I get to go to work.” We’re making the assumption here that you already get the state of the economy thing, the whole sky-high unemployment rates, and the everything’s-uncertain-and-scarry campaign going on right now. So let’s just put it all into perspective. If you do have the beautiful privilege of having an opportunity to work for money that puts food in your mouth and a roof over your head, that’s good. Even if you hate the work, consider it character building and the opportunity to learn what not to do next time… and go do what you need to do to work with what you love.
If you got to take time off for the weekend and now you have to go back today, may you revert to the first part of this sentence. You got to take time off. If you are healthy enough to have a job, consider it another blessing. If you are smart enough to have a job, consider yourself human. If you are blessed enough to have a job, consider Monday…. awesome.
At Rock Star U, we love watching you become Rock Star You. Our encouragement to you today is:
With the heart you have been given, be grateful and purposeful. With gifts that you have been given, take action. And with the soul you have been given, be perseverant in that action to make this world a joyful place around you. It will require sacrifice, focus, perseverance, and faith. But the beauty is, you make the choice even on Mondays. And every day. See you Tuesday!
You two are an inspiration to me. In my own life, I’ve taken to always saying, “I *get* to go to work” and then I finish that statement with “to help people.” I see this as self affirmation as much as self empowerment.
But before I get too self-congratulatory, let me admit that I haven’t always been quite so consciously cheerful about the way I describe my work. I realized when my children were very little that the way I spoke about work would ultimately affect their own attitudes toward working. Since that time, I’ve made a point of always telling my kids how much pride I take in my work and how gratifying it is to get a project over the finish line, especially if said project has proven to be a bit of a challenge.
So yes, it’s Monday, and I get to go to work!