The Pajama Success Barometer

People define success in many ways. For example, a starting pitcher in baseball might consider going six strong innings while giving up only two runs as successful, while a clumsy fisherman's definition might include not falling out of his boat and getting eaten by a sea monster. Also, a turtle would most definitely consider getting across a four-lane highway a monumental success. (Unless, of course, he realized that he forgot his wallet back where he’d started and had to retrace his steps.)

As for me, I’m a simple man, and that means I have a simple definition of success, which is as follows: If I’m wearing pajamas and it’s past 11:00 AM, then the day has been successful.

You might ask, why is that? Well, for one thing it means it's either a weekend or a holiday, or else I’d be stuck at work. (Unless, of course, my place of employment decided to have a pajama day, in which case my definition of success would grow very fuzzy.) It also means that I didn’t have anything pressing to take care of that morning, such as escaping a burglar, getting my tires rotated, or yelling at the people in the grocery store who annoy me. And, to top it off, pajamas are just darn comfortable! It’s like taking a little piece of your bed along with you to start your day, which can be very soothing, especially when you're too old for teddy bears.

Admit it, there’s just something special about sipping coffee in your pajamas while the world rushes crazily past that makes for a successful day…

Now, I do want to make a little clarification here, mainly because this entry isn’t long enough yet and I have to pad it out a bit. There are cases when a successful day can occur even if I’m not in my pajamas at 11:00 in the morning. For example, it can happen when I’m on vacation and I awake at 6:00 AM to hike up a looming mountain, just so I can grunt in appreciation at the summit and get back down in time for lunch. (I’m also a simple man when it comes to vacations.) But these exceptions don’t disprove my original assertion. Looking back through the mists of time, I can’t recall a single time where I was still in my pajamas at 11:00 AM that didn't end up being a good day. And so, at least for me, that makes for a pretty darn accurate success barometer.

Now, about that pajama day at work idea… maybe I’m onto something!