Paperwork: Next time you’re in a lousy, ugly mood, think about this

The Facebook message was simply one word ... and a song.

She posted it months ago but I saved it. It seemed important, like something that should be shared.

The one word was “mood” – a clear invitation to punch the YouTube link my friend shared to country music star Cody Johnson singing “Til You Can’t.” I pulled it from my files today and listened.

Whamo! It put me in a mood. That’s a bit ironic because I saved that Facebook post for that word: “mood.”

The definition of mood is that it’s a temporary state of mind or feeling. Underline “temporary.” It’s also very personal.

I thought about how I float through a day on choppy waters, waves of moods lifting me and dropping me and spinning me off track. I am surrounded by little triggers that push me into different moods.

I wonder sometimes if my moods dig a bit deeper and become a daily state of mind.

I go through my daily checklist. Each item I shrug off, muttering, “Nope. Don’t feel like it.”

Mood. Attitude. State of mind. Whatever you call it, it can be a weight I drape over my shoulders that becomes an anchor.

But here’s what’s interesting about moods ... they are fickle little demons. They can be easily distracted. Like that funny bit when your dog is giving you his full attention until suddenly – squirrel!

There’s a lesson in that. If you’re in an ugly, sad or sulky mood, then step outside where there are squirrels. By squirrels I mean distractions. Mood changers.

My friend’s posting is a good example because music is one of those triggers than never fails to create a mood. I don’t know if she heard the song that suddenly put her in a mood or if her mood pushed her toward a song she remembered.

Either way, she felt the power of that song and its message:

“Don’t wait on tomorrow ‘cause tomorrow may not show. Say your sorries, your I-love-yous, ‘cause man you never know.

“If you got a chance, take it, take it while you got a chance. If you got a dream, chase it, ‘cause a dream won’t chase you back.

“If you’re gonna love somebody, Hold ‘em as long and as strong and as close as you can.

“Until you can’t.”

Yeah, the song packs a punch. And it put me in a thoughtful mood.

Music is an amazing mood enhancer. (I am smiling now from a bit more irony. Remembering how Mom and Dad loved to dance to the song, “In The Mood.” I hear that beat and suddenly see them swing.)

I often think about the vinyl I have saved – all those LPs and 45s. Pick a mood – any mood – and I could play a tune for you. Just like my friend did. But it’s mood medicine I tend to ignore.

So I should repeat that lesson/reminder for today. Moods are temporary and flip with a switch. So learn to guide them, change them, use them and wallow in the good ones.

Until you can’t.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His Paperwork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350