Friday, April 21, 2017

The Politics of Saturday Night

Do you live your life based on a weekend philosophy? You know what I mean, don't you? Every morning as you pull yourself out of bed the thought on your mind is "I wish it was Saturday". The struggle is real. Your focus is just to get through the week so you can enjoy the few precious hours the weekend promises. Weekends are great! Weekdays. Not so much. Weekends are PARTY! Weekdays are a grind, work, sludge. Of course, sometimes we can pull off a weeknight party here and there. Until you get old. Then, the pain is real and doing that hurts, making weekdays even more unbearable.

It's not a very good way to live, is it? I mean, if we focus our life's happiness on those two days a week we're missing out on over 70% of what is possible. It's no wonder every time a new year rolls around we're stuck wondering what happened to the time. Why did it go so fast!

In 1990, a movie called Air America was in the theaters. I enjoyed the movie. I've not seen it much since but a scene in the movie struck a cord with me.

Billy Covington: What the f*** are you doing here, man? Do you believe in this war?
Gene Ryack: I used to believe in all these wars.[laughs]
Gene Ryack: See, I had this theory once. I believed in the politics of Saturday night.
Billy Covington: And...?
Gene Ryack: I rated all governments and countries by how good or bad their Saturday nights were... and... I KNEW that Moscow and Peking had to be a stone DRAG at that time of the week. So I was flying for a cause. I was fighting to defend... chicken BBQs and weinee roasts, and Ray Charles songs and drinkin' Southern Comfort till you passed out behind the bar.
Billy Covington: Politics of Saturday Night. I can relate to that theory.
Gene Ryack: Yeah, it's not bad, is it? Just not particularly true, that's all. I hear they party pretty hard in Moscow.
Billy Covington: No need to give up a good theory just because it isn't true.



You know what. Perhaps, there's more to life than what happens between the time we get off work on Friday evening and have to get back to the grind on Monday morning. Perhaps, we could be more fulfilled and happier if our "happy time" isn't confined to 29% of our lives. Perhaps, the weekend should be just an extension of the time we spend pursuing our true ambitions and those things that really do make us happy. Just a thought.