One Of Those Weeks

Y'know those days where everything just keeps going well for you? When nothing bad happens, or at least nothing bad enough to ruin your sense of excitement and achievement? Well this whole week so far has been like that for me. Amongst other things I had:

• Work being relatively busy and fulfilling.
• The broken GPS dongle that sprung back to life, saving me 60 quid if it hadn't.
• The new availability of gym subsidies at work, saving me 25 quid per month that we had given up hoping to get.
• The receipt of a cashback cheque for the phone deal I'm on, that is 75 quid that I thought I may get conned out of.
• The release and imminent ordering by me of the iPod nano this morning and the subsequent lack of stock at the Apple Store when I became greedy and decided to buy it from the highstreet anyway. This may seem bad but it was good really since it woulda been total besti to buy two at once.
• Oh and I've finally found a replacement for my Henny's satchel-cum-handbag which is currently on it's last legs. Sweet.

Yes, they're almost all financial/material benefits, but these are all amongst the things I can write about here. It's like I'm on a permanent high, like I'm invincible.

But here's the thing: Is this list of bullet points the cause or effect of how I'm feeling? Did I achieve the same last week but was not in the correct state of mind to realise this? Conversely, have bad things happened to me this week that I've glossed over, made the most of or have seen the good in? It's an interesting question and is sometimes asked by others as whether we're able to create our own luck or happiness. I'm not too sure that the answer is yes we can; I mean how can we expect an orphan in Niger, for example, to look on the bright side of life?

Nonetheless I'm beginning to believe that for those of us in a less extreme position it is something we have a certain amount of power or influence over. Why are people in such good positions so unhappy? And those in relatively bad situations the opposite? How many times have we looked back at a sad, depressing or frustrating situation and wondered what the fuss was about? Perhaps if we developed the ability to see things retrospectively and in perspective at the time of unhappiness we'd all be much the opposite? Or maybe some of us (myself included) feel we are happiest when we're unhappy?

A totally illogical proposition, sure, but one that might just hold in the craziness that is the human psyche. But if it does, and if this week is anything to go by, it's something that we certainly have in our power to change.