Sursum corda, everybody

The facts of life are, all in all, sufficiently bleak, but that is not a sufficent reason for anyone to go moping through life instead of enjoying it. Measures can be taken against the moping mood. Here are some measures that work for me. Feel free to suggest your own

1. Go to a large body of water (salt is best) , get comfortable on a blanket or in a beach chair, look at, listen to, and smell your surroundings, but do not tbink about them or about anything else. You will very likely fall asleep, so first ascertain whether your body of water has tides; if it does, make sure you are above the high water mark.
2. Put on a clean shirt. Thanks to John Keats for this tip.
3. Get up and walk to the other side of the room. If necessary, walk back to where you were.
4. Do or say something that might possibly make someone else less lonely, miserable, or hopeless.
5. Get the 1958 recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ferencs Fricsay. Start playing it with the volime turned up. Way up. Put an ear against one of the speakers. Sing “Ode to Joy” karaoke.
6. Work in you garden. Thanks to Voltaire for this tip.
7. Read P.G. Wodehouse. Gulp down large hearty doses.
8. Forgive others.
9. Forgive yourself.
10. Repeat the above measures as often as needed, as many as are needed, in any sequence.

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