Choose Your ‘Tude…

Monday Blues. Who in the hell invented them? And when did they come in to existence? Poor Monday has gotten a bad rap for years. But why? What for?

I woke up today at 830am from a nice 9 hour nap. My first thought was “Fuck.” But not because it is Monday; it was because I was so tired after work last night that I passed out with my makeup on. Fuck! I NEVER do that! My skin aged 13 days over night. (A skin care consultant recently told me that every night that you sleep with makeup on, your skin ages 13 days. Not sure if it is true, but I choose to believe it) So I immediately got in the shower and washed away last nights makeup off my face. I stepped out of the shower, squeaky clean and ready to start the day with my yoga workout. Sweat! Yes!

After I did my workout, I made myself a nice breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese and half of a grapefruit. While that may sound quite blah when being compared to pancakes and bacon or a coconut twist donut, I personally enjoyed the fuck out of it. And I enjoyed making it! That “boring” bowl of oatmeal was loaded up with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, ground flaxseed, a little milk, cinnamon and honey. Yum! And while it was cooking, I organized my spice and tea cabinet!

Okay, so at this point you may be thinking to yourself, “This chick is crazy. Did she drink 2 pots of coffee to herself this morning? Did she snort some cocaine?” Noooooooo!!! I’m just high on life! Anyhoo, so I had a list of errands to do which I was eager to complete so I could then go on a hike. It is such a gorgeous day today! After driving around town, checking things off on my to do list, I stopped to fill up my gas tank. (One of these days, God willing, I will own a very sexy Tesla and not need gas.) As I drove off, heading towards the park, I looked down at my gas tank and watched the needle shoot to the top. Full! And suddenly my heart became overwhelmingly full; and then my mind followed.

Years ago, a much younger me was really struggling financially. I had just moved out of state, trying to find a job with no luck. I was young, with nothing but brand new friends surrounding me. No family. I had to figure out my own way into this new found “adult” life. Today, as I looked at that gas needle shoot to the top, I was reminded of that time in my life and a specific day in particular. For a couple of months, I literally drove around on gas fumes. My gas light stayed on that entire time. I quickly figured out how far I could actually drive before my car was going to stop completely. On this particular day, I pulled up to the gas station with no paper in my pocket. Not one dollar bill. I stepped out of the car and got on my knees and started scraping around under the car seats for any loose change. Anything. A dollar. Whatever. I was completely unaware of whether or not people saw me or were judging me. I was in survival mode and did not give a fuck. So today, as I was driving away from the gas station, my heart filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. How far I have come! How blessed I am! What a beautiful day today is! Thank you God!

I pulled up to the park and proceeded to go on my hike. Up hills, down hills, up more hills. I had Drake blasting on my phone. He was keeping me pumped. But the sunshine and the sweet smell of the mustard flowers filling the air is what MOTIVATED me. Every time I saw an uphill climb, I got excited. I wasn’t thinking to myself “Fuck, I hate uphill climbs. I am going to die climbing this thing. The top is so far up there!” No no no. I was thinking “Girl, your ass is going to end up looking good! Every step is one step closer to your goal of a happy, healthy body! Look at how blue the sky is today! Thank you God for blessing me with another day here on Earth!” Of course it helped knowing that the top of that hill boasted a beautiful view of the valley.

Anyways, so all of this had me starting to think about the term “Monday Blues”. So many people woke up today thinking “Fuck, it’s Monday. I hate Mondays. I don’t want to go to work. Fuck. ” People use Monday as an excuse for their grouchiness or their slow pace. “Oh, it’s Monday, I’m still recovering from the weekend.” But WHY? To me, Monday is just as good of a day as any. It is the beginning of the work week! A fresh start! And you WOKE UP today!!!

So then it dawned on me that it is all in the mind. We have a choice. We “choose our attitude” so to speak. Monday didn’t do anything to any one of us! She is a blessing! But how you start this day, this week, is your CHOICE! Just as it is any day! I think people tend to forget really how much power they have over themselves and how much control one has over their attitude. If you wake up on this day with that negative thought process, already planning to blame everything that goes wrong today on this day itself, slap yourself. Real talk. Today is BEAUTIFUL! You just have to shake that negative attitude and CHOOSE to see the beauty around you. It may be a rainy day, but you know what? The grass looks greener when it is raining! There may be an elderly man trying to cross the street in front of you, on your way to work. It is going to take him eternity to cross it and it may set you back a minute or two. But your patience will be rewarded with the wonderful feeling you will get when that little old man holds his hand up to thank you. And if he doesn’t say thank you? Fuck it! Karma has your back! YOUR PATIENCE WILL BE REWARDED!

You can bitch all morning about having to go to work. Or you can choose to be grateful that you even have a job to go to. You can bitch about having to cough up money to go pay the bills. Or you can choose to be grateful that you have the money to pay them! Your lights get to stay on! You have a roof over your head! Your car has gas! Life is beautiful! You just have to choose to see it! Choose your ‘tude!!! Happy Monday everyone!