We are bought up in different environments, socio economically, religious, family, school and friends and form a type of philosophy to get us through and define who we are. Sometimes these understandings or beliefs encourage happiness and clarity of thought and give us the results we want in life, and sometimes they don't.

I guess that was where I was at when I started looking for alternatives to what had been offered to me because my out comes weren't on par with my deepest feelings and private wishes. I had a constant ache that would only fully present it's self when other things went out of whack, but when it did the pain was deep, so confusing and often out of proportion to the present situation. I would look at happy people that appeared to be together and wonder what it was that retained them.

What had got me through life until this point couldn't sustain me anymore and I needed support and some clarity. I needed something to hold on to when I felt vulnerable and I needed to find a place within myself that could offer me comfort and safety when I couldn't find it on the outside.

One afternoon when I was nearly 30 I was at the gym on a walker with 4 TV screens in front of me. One of them had Rebecca Gibney holding a child from Africa pleading for financial assistance, the next screen had an image of floods that had hit somewhere and a woman was trapped in a car that was floating down what had become a river with her hands up on the car window frightened out of her life and people running down the bank not being able to help her. The third screen was news on the hour full of anger and intensity and the fourth screen was a weight loss advert.

My eyes kept flickering between the four screens with horror of all the pain and chaos I was seeing. An enormous feeling of helplessness, sadness and frustration flooded me and I had to leave the gym before I wept in public. I called a beautiful man I had met that was a spiritual psychologist and asked if I could see him right away. He told me about a book that had been mentioned to me a couple of times before. That's how it happens doesn't it.

The third time and we really hear it. Conversations with God became my bible at that time. I needed to understand suffering and why there was so much everywhere, natural, like the woman in the flood. Or man made like war, greed, anger and insecurity. Hence my journey really began. A quest for understanding so it was more tolerable, a connection to the world and to find a place where I could experience peace.

What I do believe, is it starts within all of us. Our predominant thoughts impact our actions and our actions create our reality. So it's all about our individual thinking and in turn our collective thoughts and actions form the society we live in.

I am so conscious of this and when I have a negative or doubtful thought, I slow myself down, look at where that thought came from (normally a past that hasn't served me) and choose a better alternative. One that will make me feel better and more aligned with the positive and productive life I want to create for myself. It's a process that like anything, when you practice it, becomes second nature.

It's a subtle shift and only takes a bit of awareness and a desire to be happy and the gift is that you feel filled with a lighter energy and emotionally more positive. Imagine if we all did this, what a happier place we would live in.

This is where meditation comes into the picture. If the mind is traveling at 100 miles an hour it is difficult to catch yourself repeating negative patterns but if we slow down our thinking, stay calmer, and reduce our response we can be more conscious/in the moment enough to direct our thinking and energy.

Our internal dialogue is something we must take responsibility for; as we do the food we put in our mouths, how much we exercise, the clothes we present ourselves to the world in. Our thoughts can make us happy people or angry people. They can make us insecure people or full of false pride and ego.

If we feed negative thoughts we will keep them alive, just like a plant when you water it. So I say starve them and feed the positive thoughts. But like anything, it takes a commitment and the reward is the wonderful feeling of being centered, with even moods and a light heart. I dare you to put your energy toward inner health and peace. With warmth,