I know it’s not Monday. That’s the point. It’s easy to Monday someone or yourself on an actual Monday, but it can happen—and perhaps feels worse—on any other day. To be honest, Mondays get a bad rap. Mondays can be fresh new starts. But let’s go with the stereotype for a moment. Mondays are viewed as blah and tough. They’re depressing as we have to get back into our routines. Mondays remind us of the monotony of our lives. Things that happen on Mondays seem more difficult to deal with than any other day of the week. The phrase “Don’t Monday me” let’s people know to not bring that depressing, challenging, touch tone to any day at any time. But that’s what happens. Every day can have all the negative just as much as it can have all the positive. So, why not see it as an opportunity instead of a threat?

When we let the stereotypes creep into our attitudes, we minimize the choices we have. We taint our expectations. We lessen the potential joy we can have, because we subtract the possibilities before we begin the day. Our day is unbalanced before it begins. Why start with a negative? We’re going to have enough creep into our day that taints it. We can’t pretend there are no issues or challenges. But preparing for and imaginary them ahead of time are quite different.

Don’t Monday your day when Monday might be much better than you think.