The Difference

I was doing lunch with a bunch of guys today and one turned to me. “What’s the biggest difference in your life since you retired?” That might require some thought but, before I could engage my brain, I heard myself reply, “I no longer hate Sundays.” Really? His arched brows reflected that he was surprised as me by the answer. So, I had to think to explain. Let’s go way back to school. The weekend was two days of bliss. Actually, three if there was a game Friday night. I was long on having weekend fun but short on doing homework. So, as Sunday crept into evening hours, I began to contemplate the recriminations I would receive with the termination of the weekend. I could go from Friday night hero to Monday morning whipping boy. Astute readers might suggest that I could’ve just cracked the books instead of agonizing about the browbeating, but that would’ve been against my policy. But, school doesn’t last forever. Playing all weekend does. And, the latter half of Sunday evoked thoughts of going back to the grind Monday morning. This was compounded by the fact that it never seemed I wound up working within the same hemisphere as home, so an unpleasant commute also loomed in the offing. True, I did enjoy some jobs and mentally never punched out. But, as an entrepreneur, I was usually facing a desk full of challenges. In a nutshell, Sunday was the gateway to Monday and the anticipation was worse than the experience. Now, it’s just another day.