Over the past few years, I’ve regularly mentioned Dr Maureen Gaffney’s book, Flourishing, in this column. I find it offers plenty of sound and sensible advice on how to manage the everyday ups and downs of life and has lots of personal, inspirational stories.

I’m always drawn to the chapters where Maureen writes about how people take more heed of negative messages than they do positive ones. She says that to have a good balance in your life, you need at least three positive thoughts to each negative one. And to flourish and thrive, the ratio of positive to negative needs to be at least six to one.

It took me a while to understand that positive thoughts are all about the little things and being aware of and grateful for them. It’s not about winning the lottery or becoming Taoiseach. Rather, it’s about taking time to appreciate a blue sky, the sound of the birds, the aroma of a batch of fresh scones, the flexibility of your fingers, a baby gurgling – the list is just endless. What’s more, if you make a practice of seeking out the positive, you will find it everywhere.

I was thinking about this as I watched RTÉ’s The Sunday Game at the weekend. The ability of sport to lift morale and create happiness is just extraordinary. One of the papers had a photo of the entire Roscommon senior squad, newly crowned Connacht football champions. It’s a photo that radiates utter joy – joy that will be remembered long after the current squad hang up their football boots. That same joy was on the faces of the Waterford hurlers who defeated Kilkenny, and again it’s an emotion that will inspire and generate happiness for anyone with a connection to the county for years to come.

Sport has a wonderful ability to bring positivity and joy into people’s lives. I always remember when our twins were seven years old and I was just home from hospital with a new baby. They had arrived in from school with a flyer about the community games so I got their dad to take them to the local pitch in order to give me a few hours’ peace.

Well, the two of them arrived home festooned with medals and was I the sorry woman not to have been there to witness their excitement and sheer joy. It was a lesson I learned and after that I did my best to show up for any little race or competition they were involved in.

Over the weekend, the hurling and football was spectacular and emotions ran high. And it was the same with the cycling on the Tour de France, the rowing in Lucerne, the rugby in Eden Park and the tennis at Wimbledon.

Of course, where there are winners there are also losers, whether it be an under-nines rugby match or a Grand Prix. But for the losers there is always the hope and dream of another day, of next year, or the next match. Looking forward with positivity is what we all strive for in life and sport certainly creates that life-enhancing opportunity for those who are on the field of play and the multitudes who look on from the sidelines. CL