Crappy beginnings are a decision point. Will I cede my power to them?

Three times this week, the day started horribly. Monday, the rod that holds the shower curtain up came down. As I tried to put it back up, the curtain came off the hooks that hold it up. Then as I tried to re-hook it, the rod came down again. It was a mess. This morning, I accidentally turned on the coffee maker without the basket slid in, which resulted in a watery mess everywhere. Yesterday, stuff just didn’t function right when I got to work. At one point, when I typed a five-letter word in an email, the computer had to think about what to do for a good half minute.

Those were three decision points for me. I had the option of allowing those struggles to set the tone for the day or not. Fortunately, I chose not and the days unfolded fine. But it took work.

Allowing struggles to guide your mood is the easiest thing in the world to do. You can take solace in the fact that your mood’s justified. After all, only Satan, stupidity, or rotten luck could hatch a plan to require the better part of fifteen minutes to hang a damn shower curtain rod. Gandhi would be angry if he went through that! Har-RUMPH!

Except the curtain rod’s an inanimate object. It’s not out to get me. And Satan probably has higher-dividend activities than making me struggle in the bathroom an extra few minutes. (Though if I allowed it to darken my mood, he’d probably take notice.)

No sane person would start the day with the goal of allowing a curtain rod to drive how they encounter everything. But we let it happen all the time.

The most valuable power any person has is the power to choose how to respond to a difficult circumstance. Although it’s our crown jewel, we don’t treat it that way. We hand it over to any person or situation that seems to want it.

Wonderful things happened the day of the shower curtain and yesterday. I’m certain they will today, too. The question is whether I’ll be attuned to recognize them, or be too ingrained in my cynicism to even notice.

Life can be a wonderful thing, but the path to wonder is difficult. It requires emotional discipline and constant practice. If I put in the work, I’ll get the results.