What do I do when the dark cloud comes down and I cannot shake it?

You ever have those times where you're sitting there lamenting something in your life, some difficulty, some trial, and these feelings are very strong? And then you see somebody who's disabled at the supermarket, and you look at the cross that they're bearing in their life. Maybe they're in a wheelchair. I saw a young boy who was maybe in high school the other day with what appeared to be cerebral palsy, and I thought, Lord, that cross is so heavy for that person's life. They will never overcome it, and they will deal with it every moment of every single day. And here I am maybe lamenting some minor thing that's happening in my life that's an inconvenience, or that's difficult, or that's getting in the way of what I think should be happening. And immediately what ends up happening, that attitude of gratitude begins to shift our perspective and the way that we look at the world. This is actually a remedy, a balm, a cure for the feelings of hopelessness and despair. I knew an abbot of a monastery who required the monks every morning to start the day with five things of gratitude before they got out of their beds. They had to start the day with five things that they were grateful for. And so often, when you are feeling a bit of despair, or something isn't going right, or things aren't coming together, and those feelings begin to suffocate you, they're very strong. That dark cloud, when people say the dark cloud has descended on me, that's not just hyperbole. It really chokes a person's spirit. It makes them not want to go on or fight against the circumstances that are happening, and really takes the wind out of their sails. But it's so interesting that with just a little bit of gratitude, to find something to be thankful for, you look and you say, even though everything else is going wrong, I thank you Lord that I'm in good health. Or I thank you Lord for protecting and keeping safe my loved ones. Just the smallest little sentence or two of gratitude, and all of a sudden so much of that darkness is alleviated from the soul. Having an attitude of thankfulness is incredible. We read about this especially in the life of St. John Chrysostom, and his famous last words. He gets in trouble with the empress, and she has St. John Chrysostom banished, and they're taking him through the woods in wintertime and he's basically starving to death. And in the middle of winter in the woods he is about to give up his soul to God, and right before he gives up his soul to God, I believe that he leans against a tree and says, glory to God for all things. Glory to God for all things. This little small word, this sentence of rejoicing, of gratitude, of thankfulness, that dispels all of the trials and the turmoil of this present life.