Most of the shadows of life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.

A surprising share of what darkens a week is self-generated. The rumination that makes a small comment enormous, the pride that will not let you ask for help, the story about yourself that rules out the obvious solution: none of these were imposed from outside. Real misfortune exists and is not what is being described. What is being described is the ordinary, daily habit of blocking your own light and then complaining about the dark.

Take one of this week’s ordinary irritations, rather than a real sorrow, and ask whether any part of it is being supplied by you. If some of it is, that is the good news, because it is the part you can move.