Yesterday I was really down. The fog persists here and everything felt very heavy with the election results and my seasonal affective disorder rearing its head. I tried to stay productive with continuing education work, a long walk with Sophie and some house cleaning. Truly, I just wanted to melt into the couch.

So today, I woke early to the fog. I turned on every flipping light in my house and decided to just get on with it. I went early to the gym and found myself able to lift more than before. When I came home, I rode the Peloton and suited up Sophie for what I promised would not be a muddy walk. Yesterday I had given her a bath as we were both drenched and muddy. Today, I reasoned, I would stay off the paths and keep her clean.

This plan was foiled when I brought her to the track and realized the packed sand had been raked over and now was sticking to every hair on my poor dog’s legs. Right before I felt another defeat, I looked up and noticed that Sophie was living her best life. She was racing through the sand away and then back to me, having one hell of a time. At one point she got going so fast that she tripped and fell. No sooner did she go down than she got right back up and started to play again.

I’ve decided Sophie’s rebound is exactly what I am aiming for. If you fall down you get up. If you fail, you try again. If you break your phone, you replace it. If you are sad and fear the sun will not shine again, keep looking up because it is coming.