Ribbit.

I frequently encounter words about how your mood is -- partly, if not entirely -- under your own control. You can choose to make the best of a situation, or you can choose to wallow in the bad stuff.

And that's true... up to a point. And when I say "up to a point," I'm not referring to the serious chemical imbalance that has as its primary symptom a profound and unmanageable depression. That is way beyond the point at which you begin to lose control over your mood.

No, I'm talking about the point that's right at the edge. When the day started out just fine but then you got smacked upside the head with a flurry of frustrating/annoying/upsetting things, and now you're straddling the fence that divides a good day from a bad one. Now you have to make that choice between saying, "What a crappy morning. That's not very auspicious for the rest of my day, is it?" or saying, "Well, now I've eaten my frog and it can only get better from here, right?"

Unfortunately, knowing which choice you should make there is not the same as making it. If it was easy to push yourself into a positive outlook when you're balanced on that cusp then there wouldn't be dozens -- make that hundreds -- of self-help books on the subject. Sometimes, teetering on the edge of the cliff, you need someone to grab your hand or throw you a rope.

...Boy, that was a crappy morning. Someone pass me the BBQ sauce for this frog.