"Don't Worry, be Happy"

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It is difficult to remain positive and optimistic when Canadians are spooked by the daily news casts: suffocating pollution; plummeting oil prices; our "kids" are running off to join ISIS; fellow Canadians are sinking in sky-high household debt and recently learning that Canada has a secret 15-billion dollar deal to sell armoured vehicles to an Arab country notorious for torturing, flogging and even beheading it's citizens! On top of all this crap the Bank of Canada shocks the markets with a cut in the key interest rates, and our dollar got stomped. "Don't Worry, be Happy" (Bobby McFerrin) Sure! But it's hard not to become pessimistic about our future.

For those of us who are octogenarians it even gets worse...we have to put up with ageism. Like racism or sexism, a form of prejudice and in this case against the elderly. We seniors just don't fit into today's culture of youth, beauty and vitality and getting old is the new anti-culture.

With all this negative energy around me, I decided, almost spontaneously, to add a few minutes of 'meditation' to my regular exercises at the gym. I usually break the time into two units, the first unit is working out on the machines and the second consists of mat work in the dance studio. After tossing the weight machines around (and flexing my bulging mussels in one of the many mirrors!), I go into the dance studio, lie flat on my back, arms and legs straight out like a snow angel and escape into a peaceful mental refuge, slowly breathing in glorious sunlight and slowly expelling filthy black clouds!

One of the benefits of this procedure that it helps boost self-awareness. It is not a question of knowing my abilities, whatever they may be, but rather, of learning to appreciate just who I am. There is an element of great freedom in doing this and it builds a very positive attitude no matter what horrible news rains down the next day. "The greatest discovery  of all time is that a person  can change his future by merely changing his attitude." - Oprah Winfrey.

There is plenty of research to show that optimism affects mental and physical health. After all, our happiness is the result of our own actions. In a recent article published by the Mayo Clinic there is a list of benefits to positive thinking. They include a longer life, lower levels of stress, better resistance to the common cold, better psychological and physical well-being and even a lesser risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The article goes on to say: "If the thoughts that you run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist." Bloomberg even suggests a country can improve its economic fortunes, even in these troubled times, by pretending to be optimistic! (Jan 12 - 18, 2015)

The dictionary defines optimism as hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. In the late 1600's the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz believed that this world is the best of all possible worlds. I wonder if he would say that today? You know what, in spite of everything, I do believe that he would. We just have to look in the right place to find happiness.

So  Bobby McFerrin is absolutely correct when he sings, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Did You Know? In 2011 China used 1/2 of the coal burned globally and is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. Apparently, a professor at one Chinese university, calculated that the smog created contributed to 670,000 deaths in China in 2012. Apparently shopping at some outlets does have very serious hidden costs!

         And that's Dick's View of the World this Week