Feeling optimistic about 2009!

I'd like to send thanks to my friend Malcolm Levene for the post on his blog about reasons to feel positive about 2009.

Yes there is a lot of doom and gloom about what's happening in the economy but for me we are going through an uncomfortable but necessary period of change. The credit crunch is making everyone a lot more thrifty and I think it's also making us a lot more grateful for what we DO have. Living with an 'attitude of gratitude' is one of the key steps to happiness.

People are also seeking out inexpensive pleasures - despite the icy weather, my home town of Bakewell was packed during Christmas and the New Year with families wrapped up warm, feeding the ducks on the river and going for long countryside walks.

We're finally realising that happiness does not lie in material possessions, that retail therapy does not truly make you happy and as Malcolm says in his blog, people who live in a state of positivity and optimism attract far more great stuff to them in their lives.

The current struggles and tensions which are unfolding are simply the conflict between the old 'alpha' order trying to preserve the status quo in the face of a tidal change of rising spirituality amongst a now critical mass of people on the planet. It was this changing tide which swept Barack Obama to power.

The faster we accept the gift of the beautiful change which is coming through for us and go with the flow of it (rather than fighting it for fear of losing what little we perceive we've already got), the sooner we will find peace and happiness.