Graham Bell: Reasons to be cheerful

On the seventh of January, I woke up at 6am and pulled the covers over my head. It was -8C that morning where I live. We'd been as low as -15C. Four feet of snow lingering for weeks. The ceiling fell in the previous night after burst pipes. I'd spent half of Christmas fighting off a cold. My son flew into Edinburgh on December 21. His suitcase is still at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris a month later, maybe. I'd been getting constant calls from the press about transport failure, trials of retailers, the VAT increase. Half the people I know have either got flu or had it. Optimism about the future is at a low ebb. Gerry Rafferty and Pete Postlethwaite gone in one week. Gloom and doom.

On the other hand, I've just read Max Hastings' biography of Churchill, who turned our darkest hour into our finest hour. The other side of the coin is we need reasons to be cheerful. That's why Churchill was a great leader. He created hope where there was none. My job is promoting the cause of business and I'm acutely aware of how important confidence is to economic success. Or daily life.

I used to be an optimist and I was often disappointed, so I became a pessimist and now I'm pleasantly surprised from time to time. Got to get some smiles going.

Thinking about how important it was for us to generate our own feelgood factor I decided we needed to share our reasons to be cheerful and let's see if we can't make a city happy. And see how far we can spread it.

Ian Dury sang Reasons to be Cheerful back in 1979 at the height of depression over what was going on then. You can check this out on You-Tube if you don't know what I'm talking about.

So press the refresh button and what do I see? The sun is shining. There are great new businesses coming through. Office space uptake is 100 per cent up on a year ago. You got the Christmas present you wanted. I'm going to be a grandad! And it's much more important to have my son home than his suitcase. Reasons to be cheerful. Funnily enough when I asked the people I work with what were their reasons for being cheerful, they mostly talked about family.

Things can easily get better if we help each other make it so.

A New Year gives us much to be cheerful about. We celebrate at the end of a significant holiday season. We have the time to remember those people and times which have passed and to look forward to what we might achieve in the following year. The days are getting longer.

Various authorities have noticed that the turn of the year brings with it the long, slow, hard climb out of winter. This in turn can have a negative mood effect. Seasonal affective disorder is a well-attested condition, where lower light levels seem to cause a drop in serotonin, leading to feelings of depression.

The point is that there is a low point to the year. The Blue Monday theory says it's the third Monday in January - days are still short, business may be taking a while to pick up, New Year's resolutions may be wearing thin, the Christmas plastic bill hits the doormat.

Coming out of a recession, but with many people fearing uncertainty about their future employment as government cuts bite, and businesses are still reeling in their costs, there are many reasons for people to fret or feel down.

The reality is that doesn't help anyone.

Success comes in cans, not cannots. We all need a pick-me-up sometimes, and the best we can have is to spread a little cheer. If we're not confident about ourselves and what we do it's difficult to spread confidence to our customers, friends, family.

Feeling under-valued? "There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his," said Helen Keller. The thing Helen Keller and Ian Dury shared in common was a blatant disregard for their disability, which is motivating in itself. Well, we're all differently able.

So I asked the people I work with what they thought about all this. I'll leave you with my favourite:

My granddaughter Mia arrived unannounced in October 2009. Now 15 months, she's a shining example of optimism in the face of insurmountable odds. No obstacle too large to crawl over, no object so far out of reach it can't be grasped, no discovery so mundane to be anything other than a thing of wonder. And, best of all, if you smile at her, she smiles back. Laugh with her, she'll laugh with you. May I suggest we all try this approach? It works for Mia (see photo)." Graham Birse

Isn't that the point? Together we are strong.

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Edinburgh Evening News agree: we need Reasons to be Cheerful. Join us.

You can tell us your Reasons to be Cheerful online in response to this article or at reasonstobecheerful.mediamice.net/

Let's lighten up the future!

Graham Bell is managing director of Graham Bell Associates and policy consultant to Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

Here's why you're smiling

Despite a tough year last year, both financially and health-wise, my family are all surviving the difficult times and still laughing; I have a 1978 bottle of port waiting to be consumed this year; I have two gorgeous cats and a not half-bad boyfriend of nearly 8 years; 90% of the plants I spent hours planting last year seem to have survived the winter; friends are having happy and healthy babies; we will have our debts cleared before the year is out; I've started going to the gym again and am actually enjoying it; I could go on and on!

So to all those naysayers out there, my goal for this year is to walk away from negativity, you should try it too."

Fionnuala

Have just watched 127 Hours - even after cutting his arm off during a rock climbing accident, Aaron Ralston whilst making his way 17.3 miles back to his car, still stopped and smiled at the world around him.

Sean

Today I cycled into work and felt that real sense of gratitude for my life and wellbeing. No, I'm not some hippy - just keeping cheerful.

I am one of those irritating people who sometimes like to look for the good or the opportunity in difficult situations often to the frustrations of others around who want me to 'get real', so I say February is one of the best months of the year - crocuses, snowdrops and my birthday.

Hazel

Forecasters say it is going to get to 9 degrees this week.........! Emma