I suppose it is an unusual pairing of words…Monday, Courage. During the tough seasons of my life I ended most weeks crawling into the weekend. Desperate for escape and sanctuary, the weekend was my time to recuperate before starting a new round Monday morning. I remember staying up late on Sunday night trying to hold back time from dragging me into a new Monday. Inevitably the week started anew and I shifted into survival mode to get through the daily drudgery. In those times I checked out, caught in an existence that meant living but not being ALIVE. Eventually things got hard enough that I could no longer convince myself I was okay. I got help from a good counselor and began to experience the full spectrum of good and bad that life had to offer. The word courage began to mean something more than the caricature of the male action hero I grew up seeing. Life became more than just white-knuckling through the week on survival mode. It started to be about living fully engaged and fully invested. I learned that I didn’t want to cling to Sunday trying to milk the weekend for every last drop. A meaningful life meant facing each day with courage and openness, experiencing the good and the bad. It takes courage to face Mondays.