I can almost hear a lot of people singing this title.  When you see these words, depending on your age, you would probably think of the Monty Python production of ‘The Life of Brian’.   A classic in its time.  As silly as the movie was in parts, it’s really not a bad attitude to adopt.

If you have the ability to see the bright side of any situation, then you are invariably going to be happier.  It’s a little bit like finding gratitude in a dark situation.

When I first embarked on the idea of Tania’s Textbook, I remember my Mother saying, that my attitude was insanely positive and I have taken positive thinking to new heights.   When I flash back on some events and conversations that have happened in my life, then I could say that I have heard this said about me more than a few times.  I suppose too, even though I may come across sometimes as a little serious, I am really always smiling.  I remember a mother at the primary school attended by my daughter, saying to me, that the other ladies had wondered, “Why I was always smiling.”  They wondered about what sort of life I was living and what was happening within it that could possibly make me so happy.  I have even been stopped in a shopping centre and told I was the happiest person they had come across all day.

I tend to see the funny side of things very easily and don’t get offended when I am made fun of, whether my company is laughing at me or with me- it’s all fun to me.  In fact humour has helped me out of some of my darkest moments.

I remember way back as a young girl.  My 9 year relationship had just ended and my partner said to me, in an angry moment, that all I was- was a pretty face.  I was on the phone to my best friend, crying from the depth of my soul, telling her that he said ,”all I have is a pretty face”.

Hearing the devastation in my voice she replied, in a very stern voice, very emphatically,

“Well – THAT’S NOT TRUE”

Then there was a 3 second silence, after which I heard the words,

“You have an ugly one.”

We laughed and laughed and laughed.  We kept laughing until there was no more that needed to be said.

I also recall a time, which I spoke about on the Stu Taylor radio show, when I was diagnosed with Panic Attack Disorder.  I had gone to stay with my mother because my husband had said to me,

“You have 2 weeks to get yourself sorted- OK”.

I can hear all the readers that have been through an anxiety disorder or depression, laughing their heads off right now.  What’s really funny is that I thought that he was being really generous.  At the time he was working long hours and looking after the house and kids, was solely my job.  Now he was going to embark on running the whole show for 2 weeks.  I couldn’t believe his generosity.

When I returned from my mother’s place after a week of staying with her, I noticed that my little girl who was about 3 at the time seemed very occupied opening drawers, cupboards, pantries as though she was on a mission to find something very important. I watched her for about 5 minutes and then asked her,

“Darling- what are you looking for?” She replied with,

“Your marbles- Dad said you lost them!”

It was the first time since the onset of the anxiety that I actually laughed.  In fact, laughing at myself and my predicament was my turning point.

YES –  you can whistle now!

Photography by MDH and Fagun Mishra