Whistle while you work

At the end of the Monty Python film Life of Brian there is a wonderful scene that always makes me smile despite having seen it a zillion times – well, a lot, anyway. Brian and a bunch of guys are hanging on their crucifixes in the hot sun and start singing the song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. I have always liked the ridiculous that makes us laugh at our foibles. And this scene has always struck me as being one of the best examples in the way it treats our biggest foible; our fear of death.

I saw a real life example of seeing the bright side of life while travelling last week. At my age it is important not to pass by a toilet without using it and I popped into the men’s powder room in the Qantas lounge at Melbourne airport. It also saves (depending on the mercy of the prostate) having to walk the aisle of shame on the plane 20 times with everyone watching and knowing where you’re going: and it’s not to join the mile high club! Much better to have your bladder explode at 30,000 feet! So, back to the Qantas loo and here was a guy cleaning the floor underneath the urinals on his hands and knees with a cloth. As most women regret, men have a nasty problem of being careless around the toilet bowl, so this was no great place to be working. But here he was underneath the porcelain merrily whistling as he worked. He could have been walking down the third fairway in the sun on a day off given the vigour with which he was using his whistle glands. He reminded me of that lovely fridge magnet that says, ‘Oh to be a glow worm, for glow worms have such fun. ‘Cos how can you be gloomy, when the sun shines out your bum?’

Optimism is good for you. There is good evidence to show that optimistic people are a lot healthier on a number of fronts than those who tend to be pessimistic. On the other side of the fence harbouring resentments and being grumpy seem to have negative health effects. People who are confident report higher levels of well-being.

There is compelling evidence gathered over more than 30 years that those who are confident of their ability to do things that will help them overcome adversity, an illness, recovery from surgery or manage a stressful situation, for example, are in fact more likely to be successful than those who are less confident. Optimism seems to be associated with higher levels of motivation to achieve, to get things done. Even cleaning the corporate loo.

It’s not always easy to be optimistic. When I look in the mirror in the morning and see my father and grandfather looking back at me I’m more inclined to groan and hide under the bed. But I find that I can talk myself out of it. I can decide to smile, hold my shoulders back, be confident that I can deal with whatever adversities might happen in the day, walk confidently and engage the world. When people ask me how I am, I can reply that, “I am stunning” or “Fantastic” and say it with meaning. It’s amazing how performing these behaviours can make me feel better, even on a bad day.

Oh, to be a glow worm…

Dr Stewart Hase is an Adjunct Fellow with Southern Cross University and a consultant psychologist.