Everyone should have a pet. Everyone should talk to said pet for at least a few minutes every day. It’s amazingly therapeutic, alarmingly revealing and even a fish can instantly enhance your sense of purpose. Talking to a human is obviously far less easy, unlikely to bring out the full truth for fear of being judged, misunderstood or even fully understood, and therefore it’s ultimately less productive.

There’s been plenty of research about the physical and stress-related benefits of having pets around, but I don’t think enough is said about the ability of a cat to take or even rise above the place of a priest in a confessional. Get a rabbit and discover your true perspectives, minus the catholic guilt.

I’ve found myself recently telling several people to watch Alain de Botton’s secular sermon \'On Pessimism\'. When I’ve suggested that watching a video on negativity would put an invaluable positive spin on my friends’ less-than-happy situations I’ve not just been given suspicious or pitying looks but have been almost angrily shot down, such is the widespread fear of publicly admitting to struggle and suffering. Just like coming into contact with powers far greater than ourselves (see ‘Car Crash Effect’ post), approaching life from a pessimistic point of view can, paradoxically, lead to the most uplifting sense of optimism. Have a watch, make up your own mind and we can discuss it over half a drink.