Dear LPG

I recently had one of those days specifically designed to take every bit of confidence and positivity away from your outlook on life.   

I like to think of myself as reasonably upbeat, but even the most positive of us has the odd negative day.  It’s the day that starts with you getting up and not being able to find something where you always put it.  If you are anything like me, you spend at least half an hour stressing about where it could be even though you have at least five others you could use until it turns up.  Then you turn your attention to breakfast only to find that you have run out of milk, so, already upset because of the first thing you lost, you get ready to pop to the shop and find that your keys have gone missing too.

It will only take one other thing—not being where you should be or your mobile phone's battery failing—to send you over the precipice into the depths of despair. 

If you don’t live alone, there might be someone to help you find the keys or encourage you a little, but failing that, so many days are likely to get worse as they continue, and so many of us know too well how those days can turn into weeks and months if we let them.

I am sure many people can relate to what I am talking about, but they say that the first part of healing happens when you know what is wrong with you. I have had a couple of weeks with too much of this going on in my life recently. 

In the mornings, I used to feel particularly low because I didn't have someone to talk to. Still, someone recently told me of one tactic that might help ensure that those little things that get in the way of a cheerful morning don’t spiral even further towards an all-time low.

According to my friend, we oldies have the advantage of time and need to use it more. When things go wrong, we need to do a quiet bit of analysis, ask ourselves three questions, remember the positive versions of the answers, and then move on.   

The three questions are: -

1.    What is the worst consequence of this mishap?
2.    Is it worth worrying about now?
3.    If so, what can I do about it?

There is usually a straightforward answer to each, and if you take the time to work out your version of the answers, moving on will be much easier.

It works for me, and I sincerely hope it might for a few other readers out there… 

VH, Merton