Happy Mondays

Leading life and happiness coach

IT USED to be only Doctor Who that had us watching television through fingers or from behind the sofa. But switching on the news today has become such a grim experience it needs an advance warning of its violence, sadness and horror.

If the top story is not about the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower blaze or the terrorism threat, it is odds-on it will be some moralesapping morsel implying that Brexit means we are all off to hell in a handcart.

Television networks’ wallowing in misery every single night is sapping the nation’s morale and obscuring the many fantastic things that are happening in our country.

It is like Lord Voldemort has taken over the airwaves.

So it was like a unicorn’s sigh of fresh air to see a businessman who supported Remain in the EU referendum announce the other day that he now takes an optimistic view of British independence via Brexit.

Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers said talking to Brexit Secretary David Davis had convinced him that reaching a deal that does not leave us worse off is very achievable. That’s the spirit, Charlie! Your sense of can-do and reasoned optimism is something newsrooms could do with a major injection of. Not only would it make bulletins less of a turn-off, it would also better reflect the reality that in many ways life is getting better and exciting opportunities are there to be grasped.

Optimism is a powerful tool that can improve lives, transforming them from being a dreadful mortal toil to one of adventure and possibility. It is why we seek to improve, add polish and strive to go upwards.

What is the alternative? Where would we be if Louis Pasteur, astrophysicists, Microsoft’s Bill Gates or Apple founder Steve Jobs had shrugged and said, “Why bother at all?”

It is the shot in the dark that can turn a world. It is taking the risk that the best might happen instead of playing safe and having regret as a retirement plan. Life is a risk, love is a risk. It all is – but go for it anyway.

Fortune may not always favour the brave but someone who is inclined to have a go, to embrace opportunities and keep open the idea that things will turn out well will have a better and more fulfilling life than someone who tends to think it will fail or “it’s not for the likes of me”.

Dare to be positive and have the courage to see the positive.

Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future.

Faith is the courage to dance to it today. Foxtrot anyone?