Long live Thursday

Thursday is my favorite day of the week.  I've come to this conclusion after months of deliberations, and decided that, yes, Thursday is probably the day of the week everyone should enjoy the most.  Why, you might ask?  I shall explain.

In the beginning of the week we have what I like to call Monday and Tuesday.  These are the days that are made for beginning new projects at work, attending update meetings with co-workers, and catching up on all the emails people thought to send you over the weekend.  Monday and Tuesday are go, go, go, with hardly a moment to organize one's thoughts.  They are, essentially, a madhouse. 

Then we get to Wednesday, probably my most despised day of the week (are you surprised I didn't say Monday?)  Wednesday is awful simply because it is smack dab in the middle.  After a whirlwind Monday and Tuesday you probably feel like you should already be creeping in on the weekend, that those coveted two days off are just around the corner.  Then Wednesday comes along and gives you a great big slap in the face.  The term "hump day" doesn't even do it justice.  It should be called, "tease day," because every week it just sits there waiting for you, knowing that you'll look at your calendar expecting to see the majority of the week behind you, when in fact you are stuck in middle.....in no man's land.

However, if you manage to persevere and survive to live another day, you will arrive at Thursday, which I believe is one of the most underestimated days of the week.  Thursday is the golden child you didn't even know existed for one simple reason: it's close enough to the weekend that you can cut loose a little bit, but not completely a part of the weekend so you still have something to look forward to.  Come Thursday afternoon you are more or less in a Friday mindset....knowing that because the weekend is just around the corner it doesn't make any sense to start a new project, and also to the point where you are (hopefully) finishing up all that work you started at the beginning of the week.  Thursday nights one can go home with the enthusiastic knowledge that tomorrow is Friday, and only 8 hours of work separate you from the weekend.  Thursday still holds that bit of anticipation, which disappears once the actual weekend begins.

Anticipation is almost better than the thing it is you are looking forward to.  As humans, we thrive on anticipation, on the knowledge that great things are just around the corner, on knowing that in a mere 24 hours we will be doing something really exciting.  Anticipation raises our happiness levels, it does wonders to helping us maintain a positive attitude, and it gives us something to smile about when things aren't going so wonderfully.  Thursday is anticipation day.  Thursday is our window the the endless possibilities of the weekend, when no time has been squandered or wasted, and there is not a cloud in sight to spoil our plans.

Obviously Friday and Saturday are great days in and of themselves, but I think that they also create pressure for us.  When I'm sitting at home on a Friday night I feel like I should be out doing something because, well, it's Friday and I don't have to get up early the next day.  When I'm sitting at home on a Saturday night I essentially feel the same way, only this time I also think that because tomorrow is Sunday I've wasted my weekend and will have to survive another work week before I can make up for things.  I don't always feel like this and I hope you don't, either, but do you see now why Thursday is so appealing?

I hope that from now on we can all appreciate Thursday for its anticipation factor, if nothing else.  Of course, Thursday night is also the night for Parks and Recreation and The Office on NBC.....so it's got that going for it, too.