They say that it takes a lot more muscles to frown than to smile and I am starting to wonder if the same sort of thing can’t be said for emotions.

What I mean is this.

If I think about the amount of foreign exchange we should be pre-buying and what sort of exchange rate we should be looking for, I worry.

If I look at a picture of my wet dog running across the beach, I feel happy.

Complicated things make you worry. Simple things make you happy. So it should be a simple and straightforward thing to be happy. So why do we find it difficult?

Now, I’m not talking about being blasé and paying no attention to your business or any challenges that you need to address. I’m just talking about feeling happy, enjoying the moment. It’s the psychological equivalent of jumping into a pool, of stepping into a sauna, of soaking in the spa. And don’t we all deserve a bit of that?

How full is your glass?

We are all different and we have our individual points of view on things and that makes a huge difference.

Are you the sort of person that believes alarm clocks were invented by the Marquis de Sade and losing an hours sleep this October due to daylight saving is a crime so heinous that only Lucifer himself could have conjured it up? Or are you like me and generally believe the morning alarm heralds the start of another new day and the opportunities it might bring.

Rise and shine. My glass is half full.

But I know that not everyone’s is.

For the lucky majority happiness is a state of mind that can easily be triggered and enjoyed by a range of emotions and experiences but spare a thought for those less fortunate.

For the past few years I have taken part in a fund raising bike ride for a charity called CALM who lead a movement against suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. Strangely enough, it’s always been a happy event with a great atmosphere. They do a lot of good work with people who are going through bad times.

This year I couldn’t make it. There was a wedding to attend. One of the simplest weddings I have ever been to; just a marquee on a perfect hilltop under a perfect sky. And it was a perfectly happy event.

Simples

Very often, it’s the complexities of life that make it more difficult to enjoy and, I’m afraid to say, that Silicon Valley and the digital economy seem hell bent on making life as complex as possible. (Oddly, while often claiming that this new device or that new way of working will make things simpler.)

Well, ‘simpler’ doesn’t need a new software upgrade every six months. ‘Simpler’ doesn’t need an eighty-four-page instruction booklet. ‘Simpler’ doesn’t need to scrape vast amounts of data on us and analyse it, ‘in order to make our experience a better one’.

That isn’t ‘simpler’. A wet dog, that’s ‘simpler’.

I’m happy with that

Of course, good old-fashioned happiness has been re branded and repackaged now. Now its called hygge or mindfulness and you have to buy a book about it or go on a course. I’m not so sure about that.

I’ve always felt that Golden Coast is a happy company and I hope you feel the same. We manage that by being nice to each other, talking to each other and sharing interests and goals. It makes going to work nicer for us and working with us nicer for you. At least I hope it does

We are always happy to help you and your business in any way that we can. We are always happy for you just to pop in or ring up for a chat as well.

So, have a nice day and we look forward to talking to you soon.