A cloud’s shadow can darken a whole field and be gone a minute later. One gloomy afternoon isn’t a verdict on your year.

Moods have a way of presenting themselves as conclusions. While the dark is overhead it covers everything and feels like information about the whole landscape, when it is really information about this minute. The size of the feeling is not the size of the fact.

When a flat afternoon arrives this week, try not to make big judgements inside it. Do not quit the team, send the message, or decide what you are worth while it is overhead. Wait until tomorrow and see whether the field looks the same. Usually it does not.