Ann Hawkins, Inspired Business Mentor

One of the highlights of my week used to be a video blog called “Optimistic Monday” by my friend Phil Begnett . Phil had a loyal following of people like me who loved the random upbeat messages that he posted on the theme of “every Monday is a fresh start”.

He even entitles one post “CTRL+ALT+DEL” as a way to show that we can escape and start again!

Phil, like many other folk had been badly affected by terrible news of a devastating tsunami in Japan and thought it was inappropriate to goof around on his video blog so he just acknowledged how he was feeling and signed off.

Full marks to Phil for being true to his feelings but it left me feeling slightly let down and pondering the way we deal with terrible news and the role that hope, optimism and especially laughter play in helping us to deal with them.

Hope is THE most important emotion for human beings to have.

Without hope we can’t live for long. Optimism is closely related to hope and I believe that is why Phil’s Optimistic Monday video was so popular.

I don’t want to diminish the awful situation that survivors of tragedies have to cope with but the truth is that many people do more than just cope. It is only because they have hope and optimism that they can move forward and, in many cases, rebuild lives that are even more meaningful than the ones they had before.

Laughter is the currency of hope

Laughter is one of the most powerful healing experiences. It is contagious and relieves isolation and loneliness. It is impossible to laugh and feel afraid at the same time which is why I value people like Phil Begnett who have a natural ability to make people feel good.

We need to feel pity and sympathy for the survivors of tragedies and do everything in our power to help but it is even more important to bring hope, optimism and laughter.

What lifts your spirits and helps you to cope when things look bad?