When will everything be OK again?

"This country is ruined."

Someone said that to me at a barbecue recently. After we'd finished eating the finest steak, but not before we'd finished drinking good wine and beer, of which there was plenty on offer.

"Ruined."

We were enjoying the early summer sunshine outside a beautiful, spacious house which had been built during the so-called Celtic Tiger years. The speaker, our host, who had recently returned from a holiday in the Canaries, owned two further houses, which were rented out. The driveway was full of cars, none of which was more than 10 years old. Our happy healthy children played contentedly in the garden while the adults chatted.

"This country is ruined."

Well, I beg to differ. I refuse to see this country as ruined, destroyed, on its knees, whatever mournful description you choose. I can't and won't agree. Why? Because I refuse to look at life that way. I refuse to be weighted down by stress and fear. Times are undoubtedly tougher than they were 5 or 10 years ago, but I refuse to accept that we are ruined. Because this is the only chance I will get at living this life, and I will not do it in a cloud of doom and gloom. Perhaps I cannot control the economic situation, but I can control my reaction to it. I can refuse to moan and whinge about how awful it all is. I can insist on being optimistic, safe in the knowledge that things will improve. They always do.

 But when? When will everything be OK again?

The short answer is: I don't know. I don't know when things are going to improve noticeably.  Nobody knows the answer to that question. I know that there are people who are worried and frightened, who need to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But I also know that worrying won't make anything better. In fact it makes things much, much worse: it eats up our happiness and wastes our time. We will not get these days back again: the time will be gone forever. Things will never feel better if we are miserable. We have to make the best of what we have now, instead of bemoaning what we don't have. We have to pick ourselves up, smile, and get on with things. 

Now I'm not suggesting that we all walk around like grinning idiots (although I'm told that every village should have at least one) but it is scientifically proven that smiling is good for you and makes you feel and look better. It also makes you a nicer person to meet, so you can help to make others happier too. The difference between a good day and a bad day can be your own attitude.

So go for a walk, hug your children, sing, eat a doughnut, pray, phone a friend, whatever it is that makes you feel good. Do it. With a smile.

And remember that, like my barbecue friend, some people can't see the silver lining because they are expecting gold.