Well, not really a fight at all, but I did win. Today was a strange one indeed. I was tied up with a client and had to break out to take some real estate photos for this wonderful listing in Goose Creek, SC. I was in quite the pissy mood because it’s difficult to keep appointments on time when you work in the service business. You are constantly being asked to do “one more thing”, which usually means that everyone else has to wait. Sure, I could do what the big name service companies do and charge them an arm and a leg for deviating from the scheduled service, but that’s exactly why I don’t work for them. That’s a whole other can of worms that don’t need to be covered here, the point I’m getting to is that I was stressed out and the world must have known it.

When I first arrived in the neighborhood, I pulled up to the wrong house. Luckily I didn’t get out of my car, so no harm was done, but another few minutes was wasted while I tried to figure out where I was supposed to be. It really does seem like the world likes to spit back what you put out there. When you’re not in the best of spirits, it likes to rain down on you hard – every little mistake feels like a giant life-altering deal. I figured out the correct location of the house and pulled up across the street as I normally do when shooting a home (nobody wants to see my car in the shots – especially the sellers). I started shooting immediately because the sun was positioned just behind the tip of the roof and if I waited any longer it might move into a spot that would make it difficult to work with.

After I shot a few frames, a police cruiser pulled up. The officer asked what I was doing and then asked for my ID. I really thought this was strange. I had a quick choice to make. Either I could cry out in my mind and curse the world for taking a giant stinky dump on me two days before Christmas, or I could laugh it off. Well, I chose the latter and smiled for the police man when he was done checking up on me. I even ended up giving him a business card for which he smiled and thanked me for. He apologized for keeping me up and then drove off. I went inside and had to explain what happened to the baffled home owner who was weirded out by meeting me just after I was interrogated by the cops. Once again I laughed about it and went on to take my photographs of her home.

The moral of the story is that when you’re having a crappy day and you start letting life take control of you while it kicks you when you’re down, you always have a choice to turn it all around. It starts with a smile. You recognize that the shit’s going down and you smile about it. The next thing you know, you start to feel better and you’re able to grab the steering wheel and get back on the road. It’s easier said than done, but if you find yourself in that red zone state of mind, try it. Some things can’t be controlled, but your outlook always can be.