What if Saturdays did not exist?

Saturday is the day that many of wait for all week long. It is the first day of our weekend. It is the day we are free to play, work in the yard, take the motorcycle for a spin, go fishing, camping, hiking or take a trip. Saturday is a mini-vacation. We get fifty two Saturdays a year and we wish we had more. Did you know that fewer people were born on Saturdays than on other days? One study showed that “Weekend births (around 8000 per day) are significantly lower than weekday births (about 11,000 to 12,000 per day). I believe it is because we don’t like to do scheduled things on Saturday. It is our day of rest. It is our day of play. It is our day to do whatever we want to do. Even on Sunday, our legitimate day of rest, we may have obligations like going to church or visiting relatives. However, Saturday, we are free to do whatever we want to do. (Unless of course, we are one of the unfortunates who have to work overtime or work on the weekend.)

Little Richard had a hit song called “Rip It Up.” The lyrics went like this:

“Saturday night and I just got paid
I'm a fool about my money, don't try to save.
My heart says "go go, have a time"
Saturday night and I'm feeling' fine.”

We party on Saturday like there will be no tomorrow. We rip it up before we have to return to work on Monday. Wikipedia says that “Saturday is the seventh day of the week, between Friday and Sunday (the first day), and represents the death of the weekly cycle before its rebirth on Sunday. It retains its Roman origin in English which is of the Roman god of agriculture Saturn.” Apparently, the Sabbath was changed by the Roman Catholic Church from Saturday to Sunday so that we now see Sunday as the last day of the week. We are free to party and play on Saturday since we can rest up on Sunday.

Nevertheless, we don’t consider our Saturday exertions to be work. Perhaps, since we are free to choose what we do, it does not feel like work to spend the day gardening or working on the car or house or just partying. Many people work harder on Saturday then they do the rest of the week. I have friends who can hardly wait for Saturday to come so that they can take a long canoe trip, a hundred mile bike ride or run a marathon. They regard such activities as fun and play. It seems to all come down to how much we are in control of what we do. When others tell us what to do and when to do it, it is work. When we are in control and can do things on our own schedule, it is play.

How much control do you have over your time and activities? Do you feel like you make most of the decisions regarding how your time is spent? Do you feel like others make most of the decisions for you? How much of your time and life do you control? How could you take more control of your time?