A popular health industry catch-cry is: "you are what you eat.''
But while most people are quick to grasp that concept, many fall short when the focus shifts from physical health and wellbeing to mental condition and shape.
We can struggle with the idea that "as we think, then so shall we be".
It's all too easy to feed fears, anxieties and negative self-images to proportions well beyond realistic boundaries and manageable levels.
Too many people reach a point in their lives where they are their own worst enemies. They become convinced about personal short-comings that are often of their own creation.
We are all a mix of positive and negative, good and bad, happy and sad.
At different times on different days and in different circumstances, darkness can block the light.
We can become apathetic and defeatist. But that doesn't make us beaten.
It's possible to survive and thrive - to become our own best friend.
Efforts to find the good in every situation and every individual; to make the most of every day; to accept and love ourselves - all these things and more give us balance and a greater grip on reality.
Time should be spent thinking about what we're thinking about and then deciding if the outcome is beneficial or detrimental.
Change is always possible ... and that's an encouraging reality.
- Gary Bentley is a Rural Aid counsellor
