Worst Monday ever. You flunked a test. You were late to work. Each second was a struggle to keep your eyelids up, and they burn. The colossal weight of the world bears down on your shoulders, like the curse of Atlas. Now you lie on your bed, soul exhausted and extinguished, like a candle wick burning its last wisp of smoke.

Your tiny room is suffocating. You stare at the ceiling, a blank plaster ruin, just as ugly as the first night. The walls hold pictures, snapshots of your smiles and joyful adventures, euphoria frozen in time. You try to recall the happiness but try as you might, you can't. The memory seems too distant to be recollected as if it's from a different lifetime.

What are you doing now?

Work. School. More work. The endless spin cycle. Even the empty weekends fail to cheer. What are you working for! What are you living for! Voices scream and hiss in your mind. The crushing pressure pins and smother your lungs, and for a second you panic as you struggle to breathe.

The vice-grip around your lungs releases and you bolt up straight, gasping and heaving at the sudden reprieve. An electrified heart racing madly in your chest. You stood up shakily and walk to the bathroom. Turn open the tap. The strength of the rushing water calms you. You look at yourself in the mirror, and then you remember.

You knew it wasn't going to be easy. The sacrifices were not going to be insignificant. You've felt the blunt blow of life enough times to realize that it ain't all rainbows and butterflies. You knew the reason behind the road less traveled.

You know where the finishing line is. You see it now, bright and clear as the sun. The goal you've set for yourself years ago, the dream, the only thing that will fill the void in your heart. You're living that dream. You will remember every drop of sweat, blood, and tear it takes as part of the sweet success when you attain it. This is the infinite, inexhaustible fuel that will take you to the end.

You've worked hard to get this far, but now you've got to work harder.

Time for Tuesday.