O wad the giftie gie us to see oursels as ithers see us

Fw: O wad some power the giftie gie us to see oursels as ithers see us. It wad from many a silly notion free us.

What is it about Monday morning that for millions of people, not only is it a watershed for the week but is also a regular crisis moment when as you break through the sleep and realise that life is serious again. 

Friday of course has the opposite effect as the weeks problems usually begin to melt away as the weekend loom with its lighthearted effect on where we will be and what we will do for the next two days.

The psychological effect of a Monday, or a Friday is lost on the 'retiree' since as the five day cycle merges into seven the signposts for our physiological and emotional tension are removed and unfortunately, rarely replace. We begin to settle into a sort of benign, unspecified coma where time has no substance and we are cast adrift in an ocean of irreconcilability where time begins to lose meaning and of course, we with it.

Most of our lives are spent reacting to things. The drive to work, the questions asked of us at work, our instinctive bonding with people who we need to combine with to get the job done. Take away this active backdrop and we are in danger of sleepwalking in and out of consciousness as we drift in and out of the kitchen or on a health giving walk which doesn't have any destination other than to keep healthy.

The resonance of our solitude and the inevitable conclusion that we are finally alone, with time on our hands but incapable of appreciating this gift because of the noise in our head of being solitary and the implication of a landscape, freshly wiped clean, without any 'familiarity' for comfort. No longer the artificial deadlines or the task orientated lifestyle but rather a dangerous freedom to make it up as you go along or, as is often the case,  not to bother. 

The bounties having become personal draw you into self analysis at a time when you are vulnerable. The ageing process draws attention to your vulnerability,  but that apart, the questions of a life are brought into perspective by its drawing to a close and the rational of questioning of your past has  to be resolved. 

Your definition of success and failure is important. There is a danger that you will rationalise your failure, especially if you uses the yardstick of money to evaluate success and begin to make unnecessary excuses. The quality of your reasoning has to have a secure footing but often there is no secure footing in a life of haphazard decisions where whim and irrationality were more usually evident. At least you say "I was my own man" but this could be a cover for many irrelevances. Perhaps the best surety you have for finding peace of mind is the way you have treated other people, your kindness and consideration. Your striving to understand the world around you and not treat it as a plaything. Your ability to put yourself in the other man or woman's place and attempt to see the world from their perspective without losing sight of your own.