I had strung together what seemed like a full week of Mondays by the time I walked into the Niles Noon Optimist Club meeting at Ho Ping Garden Tuesday.

The lack of sunshine, a lingering cold and a slew of stressful maintenance issues had left me feeling pretty sorry for myself — a habit I’m not used to, but admittedly had succumbed to.

Then I spent an hour with the Optimist Club, whose members seemed to make it their mission to be sure everyone in the room was smiling, felt cared for and appreciated.

It was just what the doctor ordered.

The Optimist Creed, recited weekly at the meetings, is a mission all members of Optimist clubs strive to carry out in their daily lives. It states:

Promise yourself

• To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

• To talk health, happiness and prosperity with every person you meet.

• To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

• To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

• To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

• To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

• To forget the mistakes to the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

• To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

• To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

• To be too large for worry, too noble for anger and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

I left lunch feeling recharged, a smile replacing the frown I had not even realized had been on my face for a week.

For hours after the meeting, the Optimist Creed played over in my head, and slowly but surely helped me shake off the grumpiness and replace it with a smile.

As I dealt with my sniffles and sore throat, I reminded myself that this cold would pass, and that I am fortunate for otherwise good health.

As I swept crumbled ceiling tiles damaged from a roof leak, I counted my blessings that I had a roof over my head at all, and that my muscles are strong enough to clean up these messes.

Instead of whining about the cloudy weather, I looked forward to the profound beauty of a starry night in southwest Michigan that I knew would be coming soon.

When I met others who had caught the glum bug, I shared a smile and remembered that while misery loves company, so does bliss.

After Tuesday’s meeting, I cut the Optimist Creed out of the brochure they shared with me and taped it to my desk — an easy reminder that there is a bright side to every dark cloud if I choose to look for it.

Thanks to the Optimists for welcoming our crew to your meeting. You brightened up my whole week!