Weekends make up only about 28 percent of your life.
Even less if you tend to sleep in on Saturday and spend Sunday night agonizing over the following day.
Surely there must be a way to tolerate (and hopefully appreciate) life regardless of what the calendar says, right?
Keep in mind, the average person doesn’t just wait for Fridays. Their whole life revolves around the idea that we should always be waiting for something.
Wait until your holidays. Wait until you get married, until you find that special someone, retire, win the lottery, you name it.
And when/if that actually happens, you find that the happiness that comes with it is elusive and doesn’t last longer than a few days or weeks.
Even worse, you may realize that you have wasted years waiting and complaining even though life was great, and then paradoxically you may want to go back to those days. And the waiting turns into regret.
That doesn’t have to be you. There is another way.
Stop waiting for Friday
I don’t want to get too philosophical here — the only reason I mentioned regret and all that is, I want you to be acutely aware of what the “waiting trap” can lead to.
And I want you to realize that although your state of mind affects primarily your today, today turns into tomorrow, and the following week, and the following month, and it can easily develop into a lifelong pattern.
We have been conditioned to think happiness never lasts, that any high must be followed by a low and that, most importantly, happiness is ridiculously difficult to achieve.
That’s the main problem. Think of happiness as a prize that must be achieved, and you’ve already lost the game. What if a happy, calm mood was our most natural state as human beings?
The truth is that more often than not we can choose to be happy and respond positively to whatever is going on in our life.
And the reason we don’t is purely because of the habit of complaining and comparing our life to someone else’s (or rather, what we think someone else’s life looks like).
Once we develop the habit of gratitude, of appreciating and focusing on the good rather than the bad, happiness ceases to be unattainable; and we end the battle.
Most importantly, happiness ceases to depend on anything else. The waiting trap makes you say things like: “once/if/when this happens, I will be happy”.
Besides the fact that these statements often reflect an illusion, they put happiness in the external world.
Be your own source of happiness. Decide to enjoy and appreciate life no matter what. It really is a habit.
Create your own life
So, what’s so special about Fridays? I mean it quite literally; it’s a serious question. Why do you tend to be happier on certain days or times of the year?
Is it freedom from work, going out, socializing, a certain hobby or activity? Make sure you are clear on this.
If you design a life in which every single day is a Friday, then you no longer have to wait. It may take time, or you may have to be creative, but it’s possible.
For example, it can be hard to reach a point where you no longer rely on a job, but perhaps you can find one that doesn’t steal your joy for five days a week.
Perhaps you hate the winter and don’t want to move to a different state or country, but you could work remotely during the coldest months.
Ideally, you should learn to be happy right now and actively work on creating a life that’s meant for you.
It would be naive to think that complete happiness and fulfillment can be felt in any circumstance because no matter how grateful we may be, our heart knows there is more out there.
The trick is to stop complaining. Complaining is draining and leads to absolutely nothing — if anything, it creates unnecessary stress.
Use your time and energy to work on your dreams, not to fight against the world around you. No one ever achieved their dream lifestyle by dwelling on negative thoughts.
And once you find happiness in the present moment, it’ll be much easier to work toward what you want because you’ll have higher levels of energy and willpower.
Be happy now today so you can be even happier tomorrow. It all starts right here, right now.
Stop waiting for Friday: similar quotes
Be happy now, without reason — or you never will be at all.
Dan Millman
Don’t wait for a better world. Start now to create a world of harmony and peace. It is up to you, and it always has been.
Sharon Gannon
There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here.
Mark Van Doren
Don’t wait to start living. Live now! Your life should be real in this very moment.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.
Alice Morse Earle
Stop waiting for things to happen in order to be happy. Do what you can to be happy now.
Karen Salmansohn
You don’t have to wait for something meaningful to come into your life so that you can finally enjoy what you do. There is more meaning in joy than you will ever need. The “waiting to start living” syndrome is one of the most common delusions of the unconscious state.
Eckhart Tolle
In rivers, the water you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.
Leonardo da Vinci
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
Jim Rohn
Be mindful of the very moment you are living. Start exactly this second. You don’t wait until the children get out of the house or when the sun comes out. Create something better.
Alexandra Stoddard
Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing that we know we have for sure is what is right here right now. Don’t miss it.
Leo Buscaglia
Make each day your masterpiece. Life is now. Life is not later on.
John Wooden
Happiness is always there. You just have to choose to see it. There is no point in dwelling in the dark and ignoring the light of the stars.
Carrie Hope Fletcher
Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry — all forms of fear — are caused by too much future, and not enough presence.
Eckhart Tolle
One today is worth two tomorrows.
Benjamin Franklin
