...this one is particularly bad.
Beginning with what was supposed to be an extremely early morning cycling class (scratched), and instead beginning with just a rough start around 8 am, this Monday could not look more formidable. Immediately after I exited the shower I woke up just enough to understand what the startling sounds outside my window were...thunder. Not only is it downpouring, but the copious amounts of rain are interspersed with lightning and thunder...my favorite. That coupled with a full day of meetings and work including what is sure to be one of the latest nights of the semester makes this...a formidable monday.
Fortunately two good things came out of this Monday.
The first happened when I heard the thunder. This summer at camp I had one new camper. A cute little blonde from San Fransisco, Adena was a first timer on the east coast who fit in with my girls in about 10 seconds. One of the first realizations I had that she wasn't from around here was the first thunder storm we had that summer. For those who don't know, the southeastern United States get particularly bad thunder storms, and I have heard it rumored that Tampa, Florida is the lightning capital of the world. So these storms to me, especially after hurricanes, barely interfere with my life, unless I get caught without an umbrella. However, poor Adena, stuck on the top bunk, nearly had a heart attack and asked me if the sky was breaking open. Evidently, the thunder storms in San Fran are not of nearly the magnitude that they are down here, and she didn't think that the screen windows and sad little wood cabin was enough to protect her from what was surely the end of the world.
This memory makes me so happy. Currently, I am struggling with the decision about whether to return to camp this summer, without my campers, or to follow them across two continents and spend the summer with them in Israel. It has been an extremely difficult decision, but the more memories I have like this, the more I feel confident that I will make the right decision, and wait another year before I see camp again.
The second happy thought came when I realized it was the first Monday of the semester. Last semester, when things got particularly bad, my friend Ruthie started sending me inspirational Monday morning text messages. I always forgot they were coming, but each time they did I got a little bit happier regardless of the situation. Noticing how early I was awake, I decided to take the initiative and send her one since she has spent the weekend sick in bed with what can only be the bubonic plague (or a cold, the jury's still out).
I realize that Ruthie and I will probably not live in the same place again after this semester, but how lucky we are to have ample means of communication at our fingertips. As an out-of-state student, Ruthie is much more open to the idea of picking up and relocating, whereas the Gainesville native in me sees this as nothing short of terrifying. But, if we tried hard enough (and I know I am going to), Ruthie and I can at least continue to send each other happy Monday morning texts, if not happy texts whenever we get the opportunity too.
So now Monday begins...and I feel a mix of happiness, sadness, and anxiety at the thought of trekking across campus in the rain. But I guess happiness isn't always smiles, sometimes it's just taking a negative situation and making it a positive one.
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
-Grouch Marx
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