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Loving Monday: From Milestone to Mundane

loving_mondayReturning to one’s daily routine after a momentous weekend can be anti-climactic… to put it lightly.

We celebrated a university graduation this weekend. A major milestone in the life of our eldest. A major milestone for my wife and I having an eldest who is celebrating such an achievement!

Some events are huge, momentous, once-in-a-lifetime and/or dramatic. Most of work is routine, daily, repetitive and/or cyclical.

The experience of the milestone is usually markedly different than the experience of the mundane.

Getting back to minutiae after experiencing the momentous can be incredibly difficult.

Even if we are returning to a relatively good job, it can feel like a big let down.

It’s quite normal to have the let-down or come-down experience of descending from the mountain top. The valley floor is simply not the mountain top.

The question, though, is are we bringing others down with us, or are we sabotaging our own re-entry into the routines of work by continually comparing the mundane to the milestone?

It’s simply not a fair comparison. The mundane will always lose.

Returning to the routines of work is not a bad thing because it is a disappointing thing. Routines are simply not as sexy or meaningful or intense as our milestone events.

Let’s cut ourselves some slack here. It is possible to acknowledge the authentic let-down of re-entry without succumbing to the false and extreme conclusion that a bad thing has happened to us having to get back to work.

A simple tool for making the adjustment back to work is to write a thank-you note to someone from the milestone event. A simple thank you note gives you an opportunity to articulate your gratitude and what you found meaningful from the event.

Once written, sealing, addressing and posting the letter is a physical way to close the door on a momentous experience. Now you are in a better position to shift your attention to work without making endless and defeating comparisons.

The mundane and routine can be a good thing again. As work should be… good, that is.

On your side,

- Karl Edwards



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