Day 15 - Monday Morning Blues & Newton's First Law of Motion

My daughter had a three day weekend with a holiday on Friday for 'Vara Mahalakshmi Puja' followed by Sat & Sun. We also had a packed weekend with Innovative Film City on Saturday and a tennis outing on Sunday. The result? My daughter had her first experience of Monday Morning Blues. She took a long time to wake up in the morning and get ready and sitting in the car she turned to me and said "I don't feel like going to school today".

I wanted to tell her that its OK and turn the car around and drop her home. But the reality is that I could not afford to set a precedent on this. If I turned the car around now, it was a matter of time before she would say this again - maybe next Monday. Also it was time to let her know that missing school was not an option.

But it also got me thinking - What are Monday Morning Blues? Why do we feel that? Why do we feel so lethargic that we do not wish to go to work? Monday Morning Blues do not come if the Monday is a holiday? Its only because its the first day after a few holidays that we get this feeling. It goes back to the effect of change and the rule of inertia. In physics the rule of inertia or Newton's First Law of Motion states that "Every body in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it".

Now, of course, Newton meant this for physical bodies (every body) but really it applies just as well to our minds (everybody). Monday Morning Blues are a perfect example of that. Over the weekend, and more so if its a long weekend, our minds get into a state of motion called Rest. We start to enjoy the non-work days with no specific agenda and the ability to do whatever we wish to do. This could mean slouching on the couch and watching TV or reading a book or playing games - no work related stuff. Five days of the week we are occupied with work and its various vagaries - deadlines, politics, pressures, bosses etc. Over the weekend our minds become free of this and start getting into the motion called Rest. As Monday dawns we need to move our minds away from this motion and inertia takes over. Monday mornings are a fight of mind v/s .....well really - mind!! One part of our mind is in inertia and does not want to break free from this motion while the other portion KNOWS that we need to break free and get back to the dreaded task of earning our living. I guess our minds get so befuddled with this external force that is trying to break the motion that it takes half a day and sometimes the full day to get back into the motion called Work only to have this repeat itself the next Monday. :)

Is there a cure for this? Of course there is.....get a job that is your dream job and that you really enjoy to do. Is that easy? Of course not.....there are a few of us who manage to get that golden snitch but a lot of us really keep searching for it through our lives. We wish we did not have to go back to work on Monday, we drag ourselves to work and start our machines. Over the next few hours the new force takes over and we get into the motion called Work. The only interesting part about Newton's First Law of Motion as it applies to 'everybody' is that it does not work over the weekend. The weekend force applied to the Work motion is easily able to break the inertia but the Work Force is not able to break the weekend motion's inertia that easily! :)

So in the Qudditch of life the few seekers who find the golden snitch of a dream job do not face the dreaded Monday Morning Blues and their inertia is perpetual.

For the rest of us blighters we suffer the First Law of Motion as it applies to everybody and keep searching for the golden snitch!