A friend of mine at work made a comment the other day that pulled me into a common societal trap. She said, "That made my Monday" after hearing some good news. I responded with, "How do you 'make' a Monday" meaning of course that Monday's are traditionally the dreaded work day of the week. But if I am trying to live intentionally each day, why would I embrace this illusion that for some reason or another Monday's are excluded from days worthy of living full and happy? I understand it's the first day of the week and may possibly be more strenuous than the day before, however, it's still another 24 hours of my life, and every moment of my life should be intentional, heading in a positive direction.
This experience made me think deeper about why we react this way. Why do we resort to gloom instead of embracing the good things in life? Why do we try to 1up someone else’s bad day by flaunting our "even worse" day? Why do we strive to appear pitiful and worse-off? Although on the outside, it may seem we’re trying to make the other person feel better by comparing our worse day to their not-as-worse day, but in many ways it only feeds selfishness. People feel like they have to be sympathetic for you because you are in such a bad place.
So next time you’re faced with a social trap, take a moment to think first. There is always something to be happy about, so think +. You are alive and can do great things in your life. These social traps will only bring you down in life. Live your own life. Live on purpose!
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