Dust off those shoes, prep your backpack, and brush your hair. It's time to go back to school.
My kids started school today after ten weeks of summer camp, screen time, hanging out in pajamas until noon, and never needing to write their name or the date. I bought two new backpacks, one new pair of sneakers, one bucket hat, one pink hoodie, 3 large boxes of school supplies, fruit gummies for snack time, and I tattooed the six-year-old's arm with her lunch code.
We got back 3 days ago from traveling the UK for 12 days, which also means I ate like it was my last day on earth, and I didn't exercise once. Today is our official day being "back to life." I set my alarm, brushed my teeth first thing, the kids woke up at a planned time, and I've returned to my regular exercise and healthy-ish diet.
I love Mondays. I know, that makes me sound like a real douchebag. I certainly didn't love them when I was in school, or when I had a job I hated. But now I love them. Mondays are a chance to start fresh. Ate like a pig all weekend? It's back on the horse on Monday. Had a shitty week last week? Everything can change today. And when a Monday falls on the first day of a new month? Forget about it! I'm in calendar heaven! Even though today is Tuesday, it's the first day of school, and that trumps all.
In observance of today's new start, I reorganized my office yesterday. Everything is in a new place. My office doubles as a meditation space, which creates a tricky decorating and organizational balance. Now that my office is almost perfect, everything will go right for me. Work will be easy, meditating will happen naturally, my kids will do their homework without tears, dinner will cook itself, and the cleaning lady will come every day and work for free. I will find true and everlasting enlightenment.
But obviously, reorganizing my office doesn't fix anything. Additionally, in order to reorganize my office, I had to clutter up the living room with all my rejected furniture and boxes of stuff. So my office is great, but the living room looks like we're preparing for a move. The truth is the first day of school is no more important than the second. Monday is the same as Wednesday. And the beginning of a month is just a couple of weeks from the middle.
I can start fresh any day of the week, and at any moment of the day. If I've had a terrible morning, I can still have a good afternoon. If Monday and Tuesday sucked, Wednesday can be a chance to start over. And if my living room is a mess on the first day of school, it doesn't mean that I've ruined the whole school year.
If you've been eating like crap, sleeping worse, feeling unmotivated and unproductive, you can always start fresh today- not because it's the first day of school, the first day of a new month, January 1st, or a Monday. Start fresh today because every minute is a new minute, ever day is a new day, and because you can.