MONDAYS, BOSOM FRIEND OR SWORN ENEMY?

Last night in my mind's eye I saw and heard a banker with anxiety painted expressly on his face saying, "Oh, why is this weekend so fast? Pooh, I detest Mondays. In fact, if I'd my way I'd kidnap them at gun point and imprison forever. I'm sure humanity would commend me for that epoch-making effort!"

I could see a man whose signature voice is coarse enough to break coconut, responds to his alarm at 6am, "F.. k you!"... I see a commercial bus driver who stays in one-room apartment, comes home late at night and leaves home around 5.30am every day, and his neighbour who sells paraga (an alcoholic drink, a derivative of viagra.)

The driver's biological alarm wakes him up at 5am or thereabout but his favourite Obesere song which he sings afterwards wakes up the paraga seller who stays next door. So she needs no physical or biological alarm. The driver's baritone voice is her own alarm. Both of them are the first to leave their house Mondays through Saturdays.

My intuition nudged me; tickling my mind to perceive an office secretary on Monday morning who reacted to her alarm at 5am by resetting to 5.15 am; when the alarm went off at 5.15 she resets to 5.30. She hissed uncontrollably and finally divorced her bed when the alarm goes off one more time.

You send your alarm on errands but you're angry at her when she delivers the message, common don't be a sadist! By extension, you work hard in the office yet your boss is angry at you and you voice in your mind, "What kind of human being are you, boss? You're very unfeeling and overbearing." Hey, don't forget you did same to your hard-working alarm some hours back.

As an entrepreneur who owns and manages his personal business I'd come to the conclusion that most people who detest Mondays don't truly love their jobs. Don't give Heart Attack a chance to attack you! A grateful heart usually arrests cardiac arrest. So appreciate your ability, job and team no matter what. Love the job you do; do the job you love!

The love between Rose and Jack of the Titanic fame should be replicated between you and your profession. A pilot should be fascinated by height; a neurosurgeon must have stamina, tolerance and love of humanity to be able to stand for endless hours performing surgical operations. A good teacher shouldn't just be an orator, talking should be to him what romance is to a crushing teenager.

A motor mechanic should see grease on his overall as perfume on the suit of a compere; a writer must love to put pen-to-paper and in love with the keys of his computer. An office secretary shouldn't maltreat documents in fact she should be in her elements while treating them. The immaculately-dressed receptionist should build the head office of smiles at the corners of her lips.

On Sunday evenings think about what you love most about your job - pay day, chitchat at lunch break, beautiful clients, wonderful colleagues, surprise tips, hugs, backslappings or handshakes after sealing those deals, dinners and cocktails, vacations, encomiums, annual get-togethers name it.

Fortunately, today is Monday so smile generously and have a gorgeous week!

Olayemi J Ogunojo: relationship cum life coach, public speaker, columnist and freelance journalist - Ibadan, Nigeria.

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