Office Space anyone? That movie is 20 years old but still so relatable. I think everyone has had a case of the Mondays sometime in their life. If you don't know what that is, it is defined as "an especially bad mood brought on by the onset of the workweek or the school week–which, for most of us, begins on Mondays." My first accounting job out of college, I used to cry every Sunday night because I didn't want to go into work on Monday. That probably sounds pretty whimpy, but in my defense, this job felt like I was living the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The boss was a jerk who only cared about money and made us periodically go to seminars about L. Ron Hubbard/Scientology and created an environment that encouraged everyone to be cutthroat and back-stab fellow employees. Oh, and on Mondays during tax season, you almost always came in to a stack of tax returns on your desk with nasty notes from the boss telling you to re-do the entire thing. Good times.
I think I got so used to dreading Mondays, it conditioned me to feel anxious on Sunday nights, even after I didn't work there anymore. In general, our society tells us to hate Mondays and love Fridays. It has taken me a lot of effort to not fall into those kinds of patterns. I've realized that no matter where you work, chances are, there will be someone who bothers you in some way. Whether they complain all the time, gossip, don't pull their weight, bring in smelly lunches and stink up the whole office... there will always be SOMETHING about a co-worker that can bother you. A little while ago, I found myself dreading going into work and I had to stop and remind myself that I love my job. I was so focused on worrying IF a coworker would be annoying the next day that I let it get me in a grouchy mood before anything even happened. I had a bad mood going in to the day, then was upset if I had a bad day. Luckily maw-maw Flo (work mom) gave me a pep talk one morning and snapped me out of my moodiness.
How many of us struggle with this? I know our mood is closely related to our mental health, but I often wonder if people struggle at work because of their mental health, or the environment at their job causes problems with their mental health. I guess it could be either or both, but I think making an effort to change our mindset about our jobs can be beneficial to our overall health- physical and mental.
Another thing that really helped me was a devotional I read yesterday by Joyce Meyer. Isn't it funny how the perfect devotion or sermon seems to come up just when we need it. 😊 She talked about how our mood and mindset have a direct impact on our day. If we are believers in Jesus, he promises to be with us. In the Bible, God tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. That doesn't mean that bad things won't happen to us, or that work won't be tough or that people won't annoy us, but it does mean that we can call out to God when we're having a hard time and ask Him to help us through it.
I have tried to start my days in a positive mood. One thing that seems to encourage me is listening to a sermon or a Joyce podcast first thing in the morning. I still mess up A LOT and have days where I feel like I struggle more than others, but I have found that when I am deliberate about my mindset and trying to be positive, my day does go better. It becomes easier to brush off things that may have annoyed me more when I was in a grouchy mood and the day goes smoother and faster.
Here are some Office Space memes to make you smile 😁😂 Happy Monday!
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