Why can't it be raining?

Ugh!  Why can’t it be raining!?  I’ve felt this way numerous times, over the last countless weekends.  I have no desire to do anything but lay around, sleep, and basically avoid people in as many ways as possible.  And, when it’s beautiful and sunny out… I feel so guilty for not leaving my apartment and enjoying the day outside, which makes me feel even worse.

I suffer from what is known as the weekend blues.  How can the weekend make anyone blue?  Well, I assure you… it’s possible!  According to a very wise psychiatrist who wrote a great book, the weekend blues happens when a person (typically a single person) feels down or depressed because they face their greatest emotional difficulties when alone.

For me, it’s because it’s the time of the week when it’s so glaringly obvious that I’m single, and that it feels like I have no one to hang out with.  Most of my friends have moved away, or have families of their own to take care of, and the man that I love, well… it didn’t work out.  So, I’m alone. 

But!  I learned a very good lesson this past week.  And, that is that lying around waiting to get motivated isn’t the way to get motivated.  You actually have to get up off your ass and do something, AND THEN you get motivated to do other things.  It makes total sense when you think about it.  How often have I forced myself to go to the gym, and then I actually want to go out and do something with the rest of my day? 

This morning, I wandered around my tiny apartment with the feeling that I had no desire to do anything, but the act of sitting still was simply impossible.  So, remembering what I had learned, I forced myself into the shower, managed to slap some make-up on my face, and out I went to get some breakfast.  Not only did I feel more awake and open to doing more things, I also found a great breakfast joint not far from my home!  My only regret was that I walked out of the apartment without a book (my usual eating alone arsenal) and took my food and latte to go.  Perhaps next weekend I’ll go again and hang out for a bit.