Coming off a Thanksgiving long weekend is a bit like punishment. Most people have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off.
And most people spend that time eating too much and then just sitting in the haze of football (American) and good conversation. Then come the deserts.
The rest of the weekend is typically spend eating left overs and sitting some more. Then Monday morning we reset our alarms, get back on the highways and subways and post up in out cubicles like it was all just a dream.
It hurts worse than no vacation at all sometimes. It’s similar to running every day without fail then taking a break for a few days. That new day of running is like a gut-punch from a school-yard bully. How did you not see it coming? It’s always coming!
But with work and school and exercise the more you do it, the more you’re numb to it. Not in a horrific ass-to-ass Requiem for a Dream way– well maybe depending on what your day job is… More in a series of hurdles way.
In high school track I tried doing the hurdles a few times. The problem wasn’t just that I was short and hurdles were high, the problem was always, at least, that first hurdle. Every time without fail. I was never looking at the twelve hurdles hampering my sprint to the finish, it was always that first one.
How one earth would I find the initial strengths and momentum to hurdle myself up and over that hurdle for the first time every time?
And if you fuck up hurdle one you’ve almost certainly lost the race.
So on Monday morning I don’t have “a case of the Mondays” I have a case of the hurdles. Sure going to work every day is a grind (you know, like the saying?) but it’s really one about this Monday. The one that proves that all the coming Mondays are just stuff between me and Christmas break.
When your roving band of over-tired apocalypse survivors finds a safe place to rest for a few days, remember that it’s temporary.
The reminder that this rest is only temporary will not only keep you appreciating it but also keep you ready.
It’s like the difference between merging onto a highway from a yield or a full stop.
Never stop.
I agree. There’s always one ass who thinks that they can rebuild civilization in every lean-to and hovel you camp in for the night. I think it’s best to assume that at any given point you’ll be overrun by zombies or bandits (or zombie bandits) so keep you on your toes.
Jamie