attitude adjustment

This was not a day when I felt like my guts were being ripped out by the circling vultures a la Prometheus, but a day when I felt like I was being nibbled to death by an endless parade of tremendously irritating ants. Some of those ants included...

• The customer service person working for my wireless provider. When I called this morning and said "I'd like to report a lost phone and see about ordering a replacement," the person replied, "Have you tried looking for it?"
• All the various people who dropped into my assistant's office to shoot the breeze. Loudly. For a long time.
  
• All the various people who chose the spot right outside my office to stand and talk. Loudly. For a long time.
• The staff member who appeared unannounced in my office and shoved a finished marketing piece in front of my face, demanding to know what I saw, while I was literally in the middle of doing something else.
• The person who emailed my theatre to complain about the representation of Jesus in a recent play, and the artistic director who delegated to me responsibility to compose a reply, which is not to include the phrase "withdraw the stick from your ass."
  
• My missing cell phone.
• The stomach-sickening feeling of discovering a friend has retreated into political conservatism and is unfortunately puffed-up about it.
• Reminding myself by another go-round of the same icky experience, that I should not discuss reproductive rights with persons of the conservative persuasion.
  
• Having to spend the money to replace my missing cell phone.
  
• The note I found from the apartment maintenance staff when I arrived home, stating that he or she had "Adjusted the thermostat and set it to Heat and Auto." It was on Heat and Auto when I left.
• Not hearing about something that's very much on my mind, and not knowing when I will hear. (Don't ask, I can't say more.)

So I was a profoundly cranky camper by 7 p.m. But the choir at the Church of What's Happenin' Now rehearses at 7:30 on Thursdays, and I am nothing if not responsible. I ate something quickly and off I went, and was reminded of all the many ways that singing is a healthy activity.

• Anything that has you sit more or less still and breathe deeply for an hour is bound to be good for you.
• Focused effort to be in harmony with other people has an effect on the mind that goes beyond the music of the moment.
• The lyrics are cheering and uplifting all on their own (just try and be grumpy through three verses of e.e. cummings!)
  
• The Church of What's Happenin' Now has a high proportion of loving people involved with its music program.
• Several of those people are themselves going through much rougher times than I am, or are seeing people close to them through rougher times. Ah, perspective.

So I don't know what my furnace is going to do tonight, but I do know that I'll probably sleep better thanks to the attitude adjustment that was visited upon me.

'Night, y'all!