weekend vows.

I am sitting in Starbucks, early this Saturday morning,

with the intentions of completing some scholarship essays

and consuming at least two shots of espresso.

So far, so good (besides being distracted with blogging.....uh, oops).

Yet I'm surrounded by a group of old men

with velcro sneakers and lots of rings on their fingers,

talking loudly about things like leaky dishwashers,

and seafood in Key West,

and reverse mortgages,

and Citizen of the Year awards.

I'm trying really hard not to let it bother me.

But this is something I'm working on:

instead of ignoring any negative feelings I might be having,

and subduing them into illegitimacy and forcing artificial optimism,

I'm going to recognize this annoyance as a real feeling,

and then move on.

Because really, it's all about our own reactions.

I could have the most horrid, awful, despisable morning,

which could put me in a bad mood for the rest of my day or rest of my week,

even (I'm a pro at getting into bad moods),

or I could acknowledge that I'm having a rough time,

feel sorry for myself for only the tiniest moment,

and then vow to not let it ruin any more of my time.

I think that's the trick.

It's an extremely difficult trick,

and not a very nice trick,

but I think I might be getting the hang of it.

So I'm going to down some more hot coffee,

bang out these essays like I haven't been out of school for almost a year,

and move on with my weekend,

not complacently,

but with the intention of having a fantastic weekend

that beats all other weekends.

Here's to a happy weekend.

*Addendum: The old men have left. Now a nice old man wearing plaid and working on a crossword puzzle has assumed their place. Also, Feist is happily being played. See?**