No matter which side of the bed I got up on last week, it was the wrong one.No matter what turn I took, it was the wrong way. I swear, it seemed I could do nothing right.

That has been a recurring theme for me for a while now, and though nothing particularly tragic has occurred, (knock on wood) I’ve found myself weakening in despair from the plethora of little things gone awry.

From putting the last cash I possessed into gas for my car that broke down pulling out of the station’s lot, to having to push it out of traffic alone, to losing my cell phone on my trip to take the train home, to getting up before 5 a.m. in preparation for a job fair in Chicago, catching the 6 a.m. Metra and getting soaked by rain in my interview attire walking from Randolph to Ohio downtown, I’d lost hopes ofthe sun ever shining on me again.

By the time I drip-dried and stepped into the job fair, it was extremely difficult to find confidence anywhere within me, which I fear could be easily noticed through the interview process.

In the mean time, I’ve managed to physically injure myself twice, get my hair sucked into the blow-dryer (which is not only painful, but also doesn’t smell too good) and inadvertently complicate a close friendship.

All those things, a few more random acts of clumsiness and the realization that I have a grand total of $22.67 in my checking account pretty much summarizes why I’ve been dreading getting out of bed in the morning.

I went to bed miserable last night and sometime during the hours I couldn’t fall asleep, I thought about some good advice an old friend gave me recently and had an epiphany.

Although I cannot remember the exact words, he told me I shouldn’t be sad and to look into my heart, where I’ll find my happiness.

So that is what I did, and I realized things are hardly as bad as they seem. Somewhere, I managed to lose my perspective and get so distracted by ridiculous negative things, I lost sight of all the good there really is. I decided to redirect my focus.

I woke up this morning, literally, to rays of sunshine creeping through my blinds and onto my face. I half-expected bluebirds to fly in my window, dress me and tie my hair up in pretty ribbons.

Now I consider the countless tears of frustration I’ve cried in even just the past seven days as pretty wasteful.

For instance, I’ve never had to cry alone. I’ve always had someone there to listen, whether it’s one of friends or family. That’s something to smile about.

Not only do have the ability to care for myself, I have the capability to offer myself to others. I can listen and help other people with problems.

The world, in fact, does not have a full-fledged conspiracy against me being able to find something daily or even weekly to smile about.

On the contrary, it has so many positive things to offer, I will probably never experience one-tenth of them in my lifetime. But, from now on, I’m going to try.

And though I’m not too far into this new leaf I’ve turned over, I can already recommend it to anyone missing how it feels to smile.