And use it to push back negative thoughts. I discovered again how you can train yourself to think positively and drown out the bad.

I was listening to the birds again this morning and the loudest ones (crows) were drowning out the others. I’ve been thinking about that today- how often do you notice when you or somebody else is talked over by a louder person? I have found that when you are below other people, it is easy…

weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.(Psalm 30v5) The best memories I have are of long-gone people laughing. One of my grannies used to start laughing before the joke had properly begun. A TV series (Somebody feed Phil) I watch always ends with ‘a joke for Max’, the presenter’s dad…

This week has been a life lesson for my son. Every time he tried to do something, he was turned back. This evening I have been thinking about hurdles as well- I’m home alone and it has taken me 35 minutes to get in the position I wanted- lying on my bed! Keeping going can…

‘today is just like yesterday and tomorrow’s going to be just like today.’ Or so says a character in Isabel Allende’s The Wind Knows my Name. Do you live a life like that? Is there anyone who doesn’t? I often think my life is a repetition of nothings. But right now I’m saying it’s got…

Many years ago, when my dad was dating mum, he had her round to his flat. It looked very tidy. Until she peered behind the sofa. That was where he had put all his mess. Do you have a place where you hide all your rubbish? Remember Monica’s cupboard in Friends? What are you hiding…

My brother asked someone last weekend if he had seen the aurora. His answer was ‘no because I was looking out the wrong window.’ Does it ever strike you that maybe you are looking at your life the wrong way? That perhaps you might find a better perspective than you have right now?

Two nights ago, my husband and son told me to stand up and come down the stairs to see something amazing. I reluctantly struggled into the garden and looked up to see a faint version of what you see in the picture above. They were both so excited and all I could think about was…

Do you ever feel everything in your world is moving too fast? And you are left searching for something solid to hold onto?

I heard this week that the centuries old Moulin Rouge windmill in Paris has lost its sails. For no explicable reason. When I read that, I couldn’t help but relate. But for some reason that cheesy song, You’re flying without wings by Take That (edit: oops, Westlife) came to mind. Scrabbling away from dangerous self-pity…