Sunday Scaries
TLDR: Sunday dread is optional. If it's just habit, gratitude rampages work. If it's real, your body's telling you something needs to change. Either way, hold the feeling like an egg—observe it, don't fight it and trust yourself to know the difference.
It's Sunday afternoon, and somewhere right now, someone is feeling that familiar knot in their stomach. The weekend is dying. Monday is coming. The DREAD…..
We've named it: The Sunday Scaries.
But here's what we don't talk about: They are optional.
The Pattern
The Sunday scaries aren't really about Monday. They're about the story we've been telling ourselves about Monday and about our lives.
Research from LinkedIn shows that 80% of professionals experience Sunday anxiety. A 2023 study in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that anticipatory stress on Sundays can be more damaging than the actual Monday workload itself. We're literally making ourselves sick over something that hasn't happened yet.
But patterns? Once you see them, you can choose whether to keep running them.
The Gratitude Thing
Abraham Hicks teaches something simple: you can't hold two opposite feelings at once. You can't be genuinely grateful and genuinely miserable at the same time. It's just not how we're built.
So what if, instead of bracing your way through Sunday, you tried something radically different?
Do a gratitude rampage.
Just start listing things. Out loud, in your head, on paper—doesn't matter. No structure, no shoulds, no "big" gratitudes required. Just go.
Here's What To Do With It
This Sunday, if that familiar feeling starts to creep in after your gratitude rampage, don't push it away. Don't shame yourself for feeling it.
Imagine you're holding it like an egg.
Gentle. Curious. Just observing. No judgment. No need to fix it or understand it or make it mean something about you. Just... hold it. Watch it.
Your body knows before your brain does.
Studies show that people who can accurately read their own physical signals make better decisions. That knot in your stomach? It's your brain processing thousands of data points faster than conscious thought can keep up with.
So from that space of observation, ask yourself: "What is this actually telling me?"
Get specific.
If it's just old wiring—gratitude helps. Notice the dread. Pause. Choose a different thought. Repeat until it becomes natural.
If it's real—if something actually needs to change—listening helps. Your Sunday scaries might be the most honest feedback you're getting all week. Trust them. You don't need to blow everything up. Just try and make one small different choice.
Speaking of Sundays—here's how I'm spending mine:
Started with a coworking session on Flow Club this morning. About to do my ladder workout. Currently staring out my window at fall leaves drifting down—simultaneously thinking I need to call the landscaper to remove them AND admiring how beautiful they are. Because two things can be true at once.
Since Greece, I've been so thankful to be home.
What I'm reading: Just finished Broken Country in a day yesterday. Highly recommend. Starting Presence by Amy Cuddy today.
What's your relationship with Sundays? Hit reply—I'd love to hear what shows up for you.