We often wish to be in a better mood,
And if we were asked what is wrong
With the mood we are in,
We frequently take no more care
In defining it than to say
That it is “bad”.
And we leave it at that.

But I have been wondering lately
Just how often my bad mood actually
Comes from the very specific
Problem of feeling bad
About myself.

And surely,
Those are deep waters,
And quite worth the drawing out!

And if my hunch proves true,
The great hope in it is this:

Self can be changed—
Though it usually takes
Some very hard work.
But if I change the parts
About which I feel bad,
Then I can retire many
Of these bad moods,
Can I not?

And for the record,
One of the things that
I know for sure that
I don’t like about myself—
And the very thing that
Got all this thinking started—
Is the frequency of
These bad moods.

I suspect they come largely
From the many things about myself
That I so habitually neglect,
And probably ought to have changed
By now—
Whether be simple tasks,
Or matters of character.
I have quite a track record
Of neglecting them.
And what non-twisted person
Could feel good about that?