Happiness is alchemy for my spirit.

Alchemy was the business of turning cheap material into something valuable, which is a fair description of what a good mood does to an ordinary Tuesday.

The raw material does not change. Same commute, same washing-up, same small irritations. Something in the processing changes, and the day comes out different at the other end.

You will have noticed this working in reverse, too — how one bad hour can make a perfectly decent week taste like nothing.

Which means the input worth guarding is not the events. It is whatever you use to metabolise them: sleep, company, daylight, something to look forward to.