Find Your Happy Place

“I’m not in a good place right now” ”You need to get yourself into a good place” We hear people use lines like these and initially wonder what dialect they are speaking, what exactly they mean. Are they speaking geographically, have they unwittingly found themselves astray in Drumshanbo on the way to Westport? “I’m not in a good place“ we now take to mean that mentally I’m not best positioned to do what I need to do, to do my job, take care of my affairs. The Americans are masters at devising turns of phrase, figurative expressions that inevitably work their way into the lexicon over here. “I’m not in a good place” - it’s pithy, precise and also capable of several applications.

In embracing terminology like this, which up to recently would have been the preserve of self absorbed, touchy feely, tree hugging yanks, are we showing ourselves to be capable of expanding the dialogue on stress, mental health and it’s related areas? With our newfound lifestyles has there also come an acknowledgement that the pursuit of affluence at all costs will exact a greater toll on some more than others.

We all need to be in a good place. On a permanent basis. Whether your current role in life is to manage multi million euro investment funds or clean toilets we all need to be positively predisposed to what we do. To do it with verve, gusto, energy and enthusiasm, whatever “it” may be is the very definition of being in a good place.

We take this for granted, but then we just have to look around to see examples of people being in a bad place. Brian Cowen at the moment is in a bad place. He looks like he would rather blow torch his armpits than face another day of questioning in the Dail chamber.

Up to recently he was in a very good place, but he contributed to his own plight by failing to face changing circumstances. He didn’t “stay ahead of the curve” as the Americans would also brilliantly say. You can protect your happy place by taking a look every so often to see what’s coming down the pike and reacting accordingly.

Pat Kenny on the radio is in a good place. Pat Kenny on the television is in a very bad place. On the radio Pat is Lord of the Manor, effortlessly conducting his two hour show. Putting waffling politicians in their place, sensitively dealing with tales of loss or human interest, an odd exhibition of humour is not even beyond Pat of the Radio.

All of that poise and composure evaporates however when he crosses the car park and becomes Pat of the Television. Watching Pat host the Late Late is like watching a man who has relinquished control, who seems to be at the mercy of any random disastrous act. The authoritarian air is gone, the body language is defensive and sheepish.

The tragedy is that it doesn’t have to be like this, Pat surely knows who his guests on a Friday night are going to be yet he always looks nervous and unprepared. For those of us who are fans of the swaggering Pat of the Radio this is an unbearable spectacle every week. Pat of the Television is reacting to, rather than setting the agenda and that’s his problem, he’s not staying ahead of the curve. He has surrendered his Happy Place to the vagaries of chance.

One man who is not in the habit of surrendering anything is Michael O’Leary. He appears to be permanently in a good place. You look at O’Leary in action and think nothing could possibly bother him - early mornings, recession, bad weather, extortionate oil prices, bumbling politicians, Armageddon.

O’Leary doesn’t stay ahead of the curve, he designed it. This is the man who declared that astronomical oil prices were no bad thing as it would probably drive several of his competitors out of business. Come to think of it he would in all likelihood have no truck with designations such as happy or sad places, or emotions in general for that matter, he just is. Can you imagine Michael O’Leary in therapy? No, neither can I. It is an image that the brain, miraculous organ though it may be, does not have the power to conjure.

Unlike O’Leary, who was hardcore from the word go, there are plenty of Celtic Tiger charlatans who are now in a very bad place. O’Leary learned early on that if you’re going to rob people you have to let them know about it first. The odd one might kick up a bit about mysterious charges or a draconian baggage policy but generally people tow the line because they were put in the picture at the outset. You can get away with a lot if you put people in the picture. This is just another example of being ahead of the curve.

All the charlatan hard luck stories that have come out and many more that have yet to emerge will have one common thread, they tried to exclude people from the picture. Not the big picture, just the picture. People generally react badly when they get ripped off without knowing about it in advance.

The chap who tiled my hallway is in a happy place. My butcher who I see every Saturday in the local town is in a happy place. The caretaker who I meet at my kid’s school every morning is in a happy place. These are people who ooze positive energy and go about their work cheerfully and diligently. They would have no time for psychoanalytical buzz words or clever Americanisms. They just are. They’re ahead of the curve because they never even knew there was one. We take the Happy Place for granted, it’s not that spectacular when you’re in it, it’s pretty apparent though when you’re in it’s opposite. Just ask Mary Coughlan.

There can only be so many Michael O’Learys. The rest of us get on with the more serious business of deciding the complexion of the real world. In so doing we can learn a lot from the Mullingar man. Stick your head up every so often. Take a look around. Protect your Happy Place.