There is much truth in the saying that there is good to be found in every situation.

Much as it can often seem like a bit of a cop out way of explaining away bad things, being very much a glass half full type of person, it's a way of thinking that has influenced me on many occasions.

For me there seems little point going through life with anything except a positive attitude: if we are only going to be around for an average of 82 years, there just isn’t enough time to waste on negativity.

I would be the first to admit that this sounds like something that might be written in a self-help book or on one of those twee plaques with motivational phrases you see hanging on walls designed to inspire.

Perhaps this attitude is very easy to have when thankfully nothing horrendous has happened in my life up to this point?

Unless I had been faced with the type of tragedies that beset some people, like the death of a child or a loved one at a young age, it’s true that seeing the positive in every situation is perhaps not that hard.

I’ve never had to face serious illness or unexpected challenges and who knows whether it would be quite so easy to think in the same way.

One of the great advantages of having a job where I meet so many people, is the fascination of seeing how they approach life: watching how they react to situations and their general outlook.

Friends are always surprised that I know so much about the people I treat and I’m sure there are many patients who know a great deal more about me than you might expect of a dentist.

A dental examination isn’t only about what you see when someone has their mouth open – talking to people and getting to understand how they tick is probably nearly as important.

If you know how the people you’re looking after function, it makes the whole process so much more thorough, I guess what some people may refer to a holistic.

When things don’t go according to plan, as sometimes happens, I can have a pretty good guess at how people will react.

Making a phone call to a patient to apologise for having to move an appointment is always difficult, but it’s 10 times easier knowing that the patient will understand.

There are occasions when a difficult patient actually ends up making a situation so much more tricky with a negative attitude.

Those who think that shouting and screaming gets results are, in my opinion, mistaken.

My children are living proof of this; it doesn’t matter how loud I shout, they just don’t go any faster in the mornings.

When people are having a difficult time, for whatever reason, those with a positive outlook, always seem to come out the other end happier.

Life is sometimes hard and it’s easy to let things get you down, I guess it comes down to whether of not we are able to see that there are very few situations where things could not have been worse.

When I’m stuck in traffic on the ring road, knowing that I’ll be late for work and start the day playing catch up, it’s easy to remind myself that at least I haven’t been involved in a car crash.

When I have crashed my car – entirely down to my own lack of concentration – I’ve reminded myself that I wasn’t killed.

On the days when it feels like the world is conspiring against us, perhaps reminding ourselves how fortunate we are to be here helps?

2015 is going to be my year of positivity.

In the hamster wheel of life, there’s something to be said for slowing down a little, taking a good look around and ignoring the negative.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

I’ll hold back from taking up transcendental meditation and yoga just yet... one step at a time.

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