One thing that has become increasingly clear to me over the last couple of years is that there are natural cycles to moods that have little to do with what happens in our lives. Some morning I wake up energetic and happy, and other mornings I wake up with a touch of the blues, or irritable. If I manage to sit early in the day, meditative joy tends to override the negative moods for a while, often for the rest of the day. It is important to acknowledge and accept these mood changes, otherwise we might blame ourselves or others, thinking that we (or they) did something wrong. Moods are just like the weather. Some days are sunny, some days are cloudy or even rainy, and that’s just the way it is. It is all happening automatically.