Rainy Mondays

Annie stared at the rain coming down in sheets.

The office window looked like a tear-stained face.

It was only 10:44am on a Monday.But Annie was already pining for the weekend.

Her eyes crawled back to the long, seemingly 3-dimensional to-do list on her computer screen. And all the letters just seemed to dance around, mocking her.

Urgent.

Priority.

ASAP.

From the boss.

Everything was due like yesterday.

It felt like every time she put out a fire, delivered work at breakneck speed, it was "business as usual".

But in that rare instance when the stars weren't aligned, the circumstances didn't work out exactly right, and Annie wasn't able to "thread the needle", to do the impossible...there was ample attention at that point.

Hands rarely came together in applauseBut accusing fingers were quick to unify in her direction.

Annie slouched over her coffee, gazing out of the window again.

The thing is - this isn't what she imagined for herself.For her life.Not at this age.

Annie was an optimist.A world changer.One with fire in the belly.

While mild-mannered, she had the boldest of dreams.

She believed... no... knew... that she was going to change the world.With an uncommon certainty.

But that was then.

Since that time, since entering the work force brimming with self-confidence and eager anticipation of the future, she had been beaten back.

By reality.And realists.

By middle management.

And cynical co-workers.

By school loans. And personal debt.

These days, Annie woke up in the morning, and stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever. Before dragging herself into the shower.

That optimist, that world changer, was still in there.

Somewhere.

Only....

Each time she raised her head, life seemed to beat her back into submission.

To compartmentalize her.

To tell her - "be realistic." or "That will come later in life."

Annie stared at her 3-dimensional to-do list of acronyms, dates, numbers and names.

As she swirled her tepid cup of coffee

And stared at the rain.