It was one of those negative days where everything was annoying. The birds were loud and woke me up early. The coffee didn’t brew on time and tasted stale when it finally did. The exercise class was harder than usual and I barely kept up. The toilet upstairs hadn’t stopped running after the last flush and used up all the water in the well. The cat and dog had gotten into a fight and as a result the cat got sick in the bathtub. Worst of all, Neil wasn’t there to listen to me complain.

I met a friend for coffee in town and she distracted me for a while, but afterwards I was right back in the dumps. I couldn’t find my sunglasses and the sun was so bright my eyes were watering. I walked over to the farmers market and realized the only cash I had was a pocketful of change.   I convinced the young man at the fruit stand to sell me one peach for my quarters, and headed on home to continue my funk.

Not surprisingly, the gloom continued after I got there. Have you had days like that? I’m sure we all have. Days where every little thing goes wrong and it takes all your energy just to think about the next thing, let alone do it? I plopped down in my favorite chair, and mindlessly took a bite of the peach. It was exquisitely sweet and the juice dripped down my chin onto my shirt, making a wet sticky mess. My first instinct was to complain about yet another thing gone wrong, but instead I took another bite of that incredible peach, and by the time it was gone, my bad mood was, too. I laughed at myself for seeing the glass half empty yet again, and then rethought my whole day.

The birdcall woke me early so I was able to get to exercise class on time, and since I didn’t drink much coffee beforehand, it wasn’t sloshing around in my stomach while I worked out. Class was hard but I got through it -a sign I am getting stronger. The empty well was an opportunity to buy a fresh load of water, and get a break from the unpleasant sulfur smell my well usually produces. It was a cloudless, sunny day, and though I didn’t have my sunglasses I had two good hands with which to shield my eyes. The quarters were all I needed to buy a perfect peach. And after seeing everything from a brighter perspective, the “present” the cat left in the bathtub didn’t seem all that important anymore.

When you’re down in the dumps, that’s all you see around you. The only escape is to look up. When you do, you might glimpse a flower hanging over the edge of the hole you’re stuck in, or notice a bird overhead singing a soothing melody. You might be able to see God smiling down at you, or as in my case, you might just catch a perfect peach as it falls into your mouth.