How You Look at ItIf everyone were rich, no one would be. If everyone were happy, there’d be no joy. If everyone were sad, it wouldn’t exist. Both sides must exist for there to be a coin.

Today wasn’t the best of days for me. An alarm malfunction caused me to wake an hour late on a day when I needed to be a half hour early and plenty polished. I felt two steps behind, fatigued and spent. Friday is when the challenges stop coming and we get a break but knowing my Saturday was crammed full made me feel trapped. I drove home, a human time bomb. My left eyelid twitched to count off the seconds before I blew up.

As soon as I walked through the door I was met with a mess, a line in the complaint department, a yowling cat that wanted to be let in and a whining dog that wanted to get out. I lost it. Badness- words, temper, the works- jumped out and everyone fled but the stubborn, yowling cat.

Angela Deer
That guy isn’t worried…

Of course I felt bad. No one wants to be the villain and we are always justified in our shortcomings… in our minds. After I calmed down it hit me how lucky I was. A crappy day now means my mundane tomorrow will be great by comparison. Tomorrow is guaranteed to shine thanks to today’s gloom.

And then I realized… I don’t have to worry about whether I have a good day or bad. Twenty-four hours is way to much to manage all at once. All I have to do is make sure I have a good next minute, and then repeat that 1,440 times. If I fail, I get a brand new chance to try again in 60 seconds.

That seems more manageable.

By Angela Yuriko Smith

Angela Yuriko Smith is a third-generation Ryukyuan-American, award-winning poet, author, and publisher with 20+ years in newspapers. Publisher of Space & Time magazine (est. 1966), two-time Bram Stoker Awards® Winner, and HWA Mentor of the Year, she shares Authortunities, a free weekly calendar of author opportunities at authortunities.substack.com.

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