Self help dilemmas

These last few weeks I've become an emotional chameleon. It’s not my skin that camouflages with the environment, (although, sadly, my Indian tan has shed, in favour of winter lizard scales...) It’s my soul. My mood, my mind, which is currently spotted with damp puddles, unsettled by a howly wind and beaten by lashing rainstorms. Sydney weather eh. I know it’s typically English to whinge about the weather but permit me just two minutes to be a real Pom. What kind of crap weather is that outside, Manly! You’re a dreary soggy shambles and you’ve sucked the light right out of me. Okay.

Now come on. That is so pathetic. 

I’m gonna do some star jumps. 

They feel surprisingly, embarrassingly good.

And I’m gonna smile to myself. Now this feels way too Antony Robbins. Oh yes, that’s better! I think I've started to awaken my giant within.

Cringey self-help gurus are a bit of a weakness of mine, I’m ashamed to admit. But if you pare back all the evangelical jargon, the obligatory acronyms and the completely… (derrrr…) obvious; the underlying message is always the same (and very valid it is too): We have the POWER to influence our OWN state of mind, to change our thinking patterns, and therefore to find our own happiness, fulfilment, confidence, success etc etc. Oh yes, we CAN!

The other guilty weakness I have is for Lululemon bags. I love the way they’re emblazoned with motivational statements like ‘Friends are MORE important than money’ or ‘The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.’

When I’m with my group of 'cynical friends' (I’ve got quite a few of these folks and they’re great company because they're very funny and love drinking... but they’re not necessarily the most err, positive of people...) then I might dismiss these ‘McInspirations’ as well, to be honest, trite nonsense. But when I’m on my own - pretending I’m a monk who sold my Ferrari, doing handstands, smiling to myself - and I need to dig myself out of a puddle; then I must admit a certain respect for these sentiments. Bring it on Antony! Obviously I’ve still got some work to do when it comes to standing firm on my own opinion and in doing so I risk losing some funny cynical friends along the way, which is a shame, because they’re so much more important than money… eh!