Sunday Fear

As each weekend draws to a close I always find myself stricken with Sunday Fear.  I have suffered from this condition for as long as I can remember but it wasn’t until recently that I learned it had a name.  Sunday Fear is the anxiousness that builds with the approach of the coming work week  as the sands in the hourglass of the weekend run out.  The symptoms include restlessness, irritability, depression, nervousness, and  helplessness among others. 

Every Friday we are presented with two days of freedom from the workplace.  For those suffering from Sunday Fear this can mean two things, it can make you want to jam pack as much activity into those two days as possible or, it can make you want to do as little as possible because as we all know ‘Time flies when you are having fun’, and the last thing a person suffering from Sunday Fear wants to do is hasten the approach of the coming work week. 

For me the Sunday Fear begins with a feeling of dread.  Then the mental list of all the things I wish I had done over the weekend that I tell myself that I will do the next weekend begins.  It is not uncommon for me to complain of boredom.  I am often heard saying “I want to do something”.  These last two symptoms directly led to me going kayaking for the first time.  Beth got tired of my self-pity and pretty much forced me to go and I had a great time.  Resisting the Sunday Fear is not impossible but it takes so much effort that sometimes it is just easier to give in to it.

"Only the rush hour hell to face"

There are thousands, dare I say millions of sufferers.  A simple solution would be to quit our jobs and find something we love.  Unfortunately some will never discover this simple solution and go on thinking this is the way life is supposed to be, work at an unfulfilling job until most of your life is gone and if you are lucky have a modest retirement.  There are even common sayings that are meant to reinforce this idea.  “That’s why it’s called Work, it’s not supposed to be fun”.  I think work can and should be fun.  Spending most of your life on toil and drudgery is no way to live.  How many lives do we get anyway?  That’s right just one.

Others, like me, see the answer clearly enough but because of the decisions that led to this point are stuck until they can dig themselves out.  Some are fortunate and see things sooner and therefore have an easier time finding a way out.  Whatever stage you find yourself in, know that there is a way out.  Everyone’s path is different but there is a path, you must however, make the decision to take it.

I am moving down my path with an end in sight but I still struggle with the Sunday Fear.

I was firmly locked into the career path with head down moving day by day toward my retirement age.  With 15years to go I had a countdown clock running on my desk top ticking away the seconds until it was time to be free.  One day I realized the absurdity of being a square peg in a round hole for the next 15 years and decided to make a change.  I am still at my job for now and for how long is a difficult question to answer as I get some affairs in order, but there is one thing I know for certain it won’t be another 15years.  It is an extremely frightening decision but living the next 15years with the Sunday Fear is far worse.