That's the question I ask myself as I sit here in this dusty room in the Iraqi desert. Does it even matter that it's Friday? Over here there are no weekends as we know them. We work every day... 12 hours a day with the occasional 9 hour day. Those are the best! Back home we look forward to the weekends so much that we tend to enjoy the weekDAYS that much less. What I've found in my short time here (I'm only finishing up my 3rd week) is that Mondays don't really suck anymore. Friday is just another day... no different than Monday or Saturday even.
It really makes one think... how have I spent my time off in the past? How many of those days have I wasted just sitting around doing nothing? How many of them have a truly enjoyed doing something I wanted to do? At best I'd say 25% of the time I'm actually actively pursuing that "something" part of it. The other 75% I'm on autopilot doing the same things over and over again. Is either way bad? good? Who's to say? I think it's ok to have a routine, but it takes a lot more of an effort to break that routine than it does to just stay in it. You don't really even realize that you're doing it until you no longer have that free time. What would you do different? Take a trip somewhere for the day? Go for a bike ride? Stay home and lay on the couch? All of those are perfectly fine to do at one time or another indeed! Or... would I pick up the phone and call my daughter? Would I take my wife to float the river instead of complaining about not wanting to do it to the point that she doesn't want to anymore? There are a lot of things we do that we would still do if we had it to do over... but what would you add in that you DIDN'T do?
Every day is an opportunity... even here in Iraq. What have I done since I've been here so far? Well... I started this blog for one! I've already made a new friend or two here. I've taken a liking to the job I've hated for the last 3 years and gotten pretty damn good at it, too! I still haven't learned to like the heat, though. LOL There's just something draining about walking for even 10 minutes when it's 105-110 outside with the sun beating down on you and dust in the air. If that's the worst thing that happens here... then that's not so bad now is it? There is so much time to be productive here... what will I come up with next? Only tomorrow and beyond hold those answers.... but for now... I'm enjoying myself today... TGIF everyone!
Peace, Love, and Poker
No comments:
Post a Comment