JP HEDGE What’s making JP Hedge happy?

OPINION JP HEDGE

Grin and bear it

I’ve been listening to several of Bear Grylls’ books recently. The irony of choosing the path of least resistance, (the audio version rather than actually reading), in a book about SAS resolve, is not lost on me. I think it could be the early signs of a full mid-life crisis but I am embracing it one audio chapter at a time.

I’ve especially enjoyed listening to his thoughts around happiness. I’ve listened to a couple of books now, and they all loop back to quality of life and joy.

Bear seems to be a good goal to aim for. Of course, how much you can ever know about someone from television and books is tricky. On the surface I have been really What’s the secret of happiness? Being more like Bear Grylls, says JP

impressed with the way he carries himself and the way he seemingly prioritises things in life.

I’d like to be a bit more Bear. I am thinking of producing some ‘Be More Bear’ stickers. We are both men who want to order our lives for maximum happiness, but I understand that this is where any similarities end. Actually, we both wear waterproof clothing on occasion, although mine is restricted to the confi nes of the Haytor car park.

Bear says the secret to happiness is prioritising fun, family, faith and friends. Time is the golden thread. You can’t buy it. But if you focus on those areas, and use that limited supply of time wisely, you can’t go far wrong.

“We are heading to out of season caravan-parks as a family for Dad disco dancing and late night board games”

I am paraphrasing of course, but his concise explanation is one of the best I have heard.

I also fi nd it fascinating that there is no materialism or stuff in that quadruple ‘F’ equation. What about money? I think Bear owns an island. Perhaps he even penned his thoughts around joy whilst sat on his island. He is certainly a multimillionaire. But I believe him to be genuine when he concludes it is actually non-materialistic items that fl oat his boat. I imagine he also has a boat, but I understand the thought process.

In my former career I used to write travel pieces and was lucky enough to go to all parts of the world for free. It is a world away from what I am now doing and was utterly amabing at the time. I¼ve stayed in hotels I could only dream of aff ording in real life, and had money can’t buy experiences.

Once I combined travel writing at the end of some charity work in Thailand.

I returned from a week of capturing extreme poverty back to the capital and the poshest hotel I had every stayed in. I arrived a bit of an emotional wreck, covered in grime, exhausted, carrying a huge muddy backpack. Hoping for a quiet night I was escorted to a private lift which opened up to a private suite with a long line of staff waiting for me. <hey were very polite, but they could sense my embarrassment to the state I was in and aversion to the overpowering opulence.

Looking back now I realised there was something missing from the experience – other than deodorant.

It was the lack of shared experience. I have learnt that without one of the four F’s in the mix, there is always something missing from my happiness equation. That goes for instant gratifi cation too, such as boobe, which I have recently given up. This year we are heading to various out of season caravanparks as a family for Dad disco dancing and late night board games. If you had told me 10 years ago that this would bring more happiness than a solo all-expense paid trip to the top of an Italian Alp or a picture perfect Portuguese beach, I’d have said you were out of your mind. But it’s true.

Aou¼ll fi nd me there this year listening to audio books trying to be more Bear. ■

Jon-Paul Hedge is a director at Exeter City Council where he currently looks after tourism, communications and culture. He is a former newspaper editor and lives in the city with his wife and two young children.