The Role of Acceptance in Dentian Thursdays

Anybody else having a nigh Arthur-Dentian Thursday out there?  Because I sure am…I slept for crap, woke up with a screaming headache (my neck apparently won a limbo contest while I was sleeping), and have since endured the kind of Parade of Dumb Irritations that usually defines a stereotypical OMFGMonday.  But because it’s not Monday — because you’re already four more days worn out than you were on Monday — it’s even worse.

Ah, the Dentian Thursday.  You think about all the things you wanted to get done today, compared to how it’s actually gone, and you get a look on your face like this:

But there’s a lesson in everything.  As you probably know, the more frustrated you get, and the harder you work to “fix” days like today, the worse they get! Which makes them a fantastic lesson in patience.  Nothing says “stop fighting and ride it out” like that sticky late-week combination of boredom, discomfort and frustration.  And I’ve found that once I do give myself permission to just be patient and let the irritations pass, things usually get better.

This article about patience and impulse-control has been helpful.  The best quote, IMO:

“We can’t control the world,
but we can control how we think about it.”

A brilliant sentiment!  Also one which, when realized, lends itself to some surprising discoveries about just how much controlling how we think does control the world.  (It’s not subjectivism, darnit.  The Universe is just…flexible.  ;)

Anyway, it’s hard to accept that sometimes there just have to be off-days.

But Thursday is probably a great day to practice!