My early years were spent in Scotland, just off the famous Royal Mile, beside Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. I’ve been a truly fortunate fellow living in many places across the globe. In Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) I was a tea-tasting bear until the outbreak of World War Two.

It was during World War Two that my 9 point philosophy on life was born.

I was co-piloting a reconnaissance plane over the Burmese jungle with RAF Pilot Baxter, taking photographs for the British Army. A reconnaissance plane was a special plane that carried no guns. We were shot down, crash-landing in the thick jungle below. As I came to, I realised that we were both hanging from our parachutes high in the jungle canopy. From the pain in my shoulder I knew I’d been injured. I decided then, if we survived, I’d spend the rest of my life helping people stay positive.

Amazingly, on the fifth day we were rescued by an Army Gurkha unit. (In 2009 I was treekled to be at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo as the Gurkhas were there too!) On day 9, after trekking four days through the jungle, we finally reached a military convoy where an ambulance waited to take us to an Army field hospital in Imphal, India, only for the ambulance to get stuck in the mud! Luckily help was at hand from an elephant to push us on our way.

I still carry reminders of my injuries – a patch on my shoulder, made from a piece of family tartan Pilot Baxter carried with him, and a torn ear.

After recuperating, I went to live in Kenya, Africa, where I became a coffee-tasting bear and had my ear ripped again, by a chicken! How embarrassing!