The Worst Monday?

I blog to get people to donate to kid’s charities. I don’t want money, I want you to donate direct to a children’s charity then write to me by commenting on the blog. Please read the ‘About Lesley’ section of the blog to find out why I do this; the Comments and Running Totals pages to see how far we have come….

It has been reported that last Monday, January 12th, today, January 17th and next Monday, January 24th are the worst Mondays in the year. I am puzzled that three Mondays have been tagged as ‘blue’ but I do understand the sentiment…… just.

It is winter, cold, dark and dank. Most are back at work after a lazy Christmas holiday. We have no money, we should be at the gym, losing weight, cutting down on alcohol and never eating chocolate again, shouldn’t we? I blogged about New Year resolutions at the New Year; now is the time when the resolution chickens are coming home to roost. Did you start your new life with a bang and are you now whimpering in a corner? Are you metaphorically beating yourself up as a failure? Really? If you are, I have only one thing to say…….. Lighten up!

Now is the time to give yourself a break. Yes, it is winter, the mornings and evenings are still dark. Yes, most of our resolutions will have stuttered if they haven’t ground to a complete halt. January seems like the longest month, waiting for payday and those bills. I hope you are back at work. I want you to be working so money will land in your account at the end of the month. It may swiftly leave the account again but at least it will arrive. We are still in a recession and many fear for their jobs, now is the time to be cheerful if we are working.

You may have spotted that I am a ‘glass half full’ person. This doesn’t mean I don’t get blue, of course I do. We all have concerns, we all worry and I am particularly good at ‘fretting’. I over-think and have been know to analyse problems into knots. I hold many conversations in my head – I hope you all recognise yourselves here:) My saving grace, I think, is an ability to see the bright side in most situations. I don’t want to sound preachy but I will ask everyone to pause for one minute on this bluest of Mondays. Take one short minute and think about your lot. Is it horrible or is this just one day with the same opportunities as all the other days of the year? I hope it is the latter so you can dismiss blue Monday as just another piece of nonsense from the features writers of the daily rags. Then you can smile and get ready to face 2011 with rainbows and not rain in your heart….

I close with my normal request to you:-

• Donate to a valid children’s charity of your choice. It is easy to do – online, collection boxes, Give as You Earn. Any amount is important and I am delighted for one pound, dollar, euro, yen to reach a charity. Donate a present to a family or child that will not have the holiday season that you might expect and plan for.

• Visit this blog and comment anywhere with the charity, amount including currency and please also tell me what you wanted to be when you were 8. I love the stories of childish ambitions.

I will then:-

• Add your donation to the Totals page on this blog, totals are updated weekly.

• I will also write some words about the current donations and the charity

• All comments will be stored on the comments page so that you can see what charities people are interested in and also what a variety of 8-year-old ambitions we have already. I am looking forward to way more surprises from you all.

The steps are simple. Again, if you like the idea please tell others so that they will come and tell me their stories.

Take care of you and yours.

Lesley