Smile, through your tears and sorrow

I’m a positive person. Really, I am. Or I try to be. I actually make a concerted effort to see the bright sides in life, and I’m a lot happier for it. But it can be hard, really hard, when I live in a country so filled with naysayers and cynics that every smile or positive thought is dragged back down to earth with such force that they can measure it on seismometers around the world.

That was not a very positive paragraph, I confess, but since the world has been in economic crisis the Brits have once again shown their world class ability to make sure that, for
every silver lining, we are reminded of the towering cumulonimbus blocking out the sun.

To take an example: last week were the Oscars. Here is a time where we can all come together to celebrate something everybody, or almost everybody, loves. Films are great, right? And as if that wasn’t enough, a British film won eight awards, including best picture and best director, and a British actress got the top gong in her field. Fantastic!

“To be honest, I’m far more concerned about the state of our economy than a bit of bling for the luvvies, and so should everybody else,” writes DaMuttzNuttz of Malvern. The hallowed pages of the BBC’s ‘Have Your Say’ facility on their website demonstrate just what people seem to think of this happy occasion, and, as you can see, it is a handy way of finding out what we should or should not care about – wouldn’t want to be caught out giving a damn about something you shouldn’t be, would you? Reading through the rest of the comments the tone, with some exceptions, remains largely the same from British contributors such as Mr Canine-Testes.

Why are we so intent on maintaining a state of misery? The British mindset is less “Life is
short” and more “Life’s a bitch”. I swear most people could win the lottery and search for the catch, refuse the money in case it’s a clever scam that has taken in the public for decades.
People seem so afraid of embracing positivity. When I confront people about their cynicism, I largely get the same answer: “Set your expectations and ambitions low and you will never be disappointed.”

Perhaps this is true, but you will also fail to see the beauty in life. A person cannot appreciate a sunset if all they think is, “It’s dark, I can’t see”, or fall in love if they are constantly of the belief that the object of their affections is simply playing a cruel prank and, anyway, is mortal and will die one day. When people hear things like “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” or “always look on the bright side of life”, they dismiss the utterances as banal clichés spoken by twits who are obviously too naïve to see all the crap in the world, but never consider the sentiments behind them.

We optimists in fact do see the rubbish in the world; we are just capable of not letting it ruin all of the good stuff. You are all intelligent people spending the best time of your lives around fantastic people doing something I presume you love at one of the top institutions in the country. We may be in a recession right now, but you are still lucky enough to reside in one of the most privileged nations on the planet. You’re alive and there are (probably) plenty of people who love you. If there aren’t, I will be your friend: drop me an email, we’ll have lunch and I’ll tell you about the good things in life. Now will everyone stop being so bloody pessimistic? It really gets me down.