True Spirit of Sundays

-Hena Naqvi-

                We all love Sundays. Most of us consider the day as a relief from work and an opportunity to enjoy our freedom. All the countries of the world have a weekly holiday. There is no official work on weekly holiday. Shops, offices, educational institutions and all other institutions except for those related to essential services like health are expected to be closed on the weekly holiday. 

                 Majority of the countries that follow Roman calendar, have Sunday as the weekly holiday while in Muslim countries Friday is the weekly off day. There is a religious background behind this practice. In both cases (Sunday or Friday); weekly holidays have a connection with the weekly prayers. In Christianity Sunday is considered as the Sabbath day (Seventh Day Adventist), the day of weekly prayer. For Muslims Juma (Arabic name for Friday) is the day of weekly public prayer and other noble works like charity and donation etc.  With the passage of time, the day of weekly prayers came to be known as the day of weekly holiday and weekly rest.

                   The weekly holiday not only connects people to their religion and spirituality through mass prayer; it has several other advantages as well. A break from the routine work (school, office, business…..) breaks the monotony. This helps in re-energising, revitalising and rejuvenating. Next day that is on Monday when we take up the work again at our work place, there is a new zeal and energy.  The fresh stock of energy obtained on Monday morning gradually begins to diminish and by Saturday; the battery is almost discharged. There is nothing bad about it. After all, a human body is a machine; it loses its energy because of work and needs rest after work. The energy consumed during the week days is again re-charged on your weekly holiday.

           What would have been the situation without a weekly off?  We would have had seven days a week, thirty days a month and three hundred sixty five days a year to work. The monotony would have made life a hell. The weekly holiday provides spiritual, physical, mental and emotional relief. This is the day when we spend quality time with the family members and strengthen our family bond. The day also gives us free time to visit the neighbours, friends and relatives and revive the relationship. An attraction for Saturday evenings and a hatred for Wednesday mornings are very common. We long for Saturday evening because Sunday comes immediately after Saturday. We hate Wednesday because of Sunday being far away. There is also a category of people hating Monday mornings because of the memories associated with last Sunday and because of the workload of the next week initiated by Monday. Perhaps the song  ‘Khoon choos le tu mera khoon choos le, bloody khooni Monday’  is appropriate for them.

            If this weekly holiday is so much important for us, then it should be planned and managed properly. A poor time management spoils the spirit of weekly holiday. Many of us plan our washing, cleaning, shopping everything for Sunday. A load of work on a single day creates lots of difficulties and the day becomes un-manageable. Fatigue, irritation, conflict, and fights came as side-effects of lack of planning and poor time management. As a result; the very purpose of the weekly holiday is defeated and we spend it by working and working without even thinking of resting and relaxing. In such cases it is not uncommon to hear or think 'I feel better in my office on week days'. Proper planning and time management do not allow such situations to come.

          Why to wait for Sunday to wash a load of clothes or to clean the rooms?  Why cannot we wash 3-4 clothes every day managing a few extra minutes from the schedule? Why cannot we clean two corners of the rooms every day?  A micro approach can avoid an accumulation of work. An even distribution of works throughout the week and their accomplishment with the help of members of the family can prevent your precious day from becoming an odd day. Do not make weekly holiday a washing or cleaning day. Reward yourself with an enjoyable Sunday by planning and managing it properly.  Have sufficient time to rest, relax and rejoice with family and friends and achieve the objectives of a weekly holiday in the true spirit.

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