I have been in a magnificent respite care home for the past ten days. For anyone living near Taunton, I can highly recommend it. It is called Halcon House. It really IS a home from home for many residents and is run in a very relaxed, informal way by some of the most loving, dedicated, professional people you could wish to meet.

I came because I had had an infection that could not be cleared by a single course of antibiotics. So I had to take a second course . The paradox with my condition (Multiple Sclerosis) is that whilst antibiotics may deal with my problem, they shred me of whatever vestige of an immune system that I possess. By the time I got here, in no time at all, this fiercely independent woman was as weak as a new-born kitten. I was unable to do pretty much anything for myself, I was so enervated. Ten days later, thanks to the team’s ministrations and the healing magic this place inspires, I am not exactly ready to take on the world, or running on gas, but I have almost got my mojo back.

The people here, both patients and staff alike, are uniformly wonderful. Friendly, loving, witty, funny, many in spite of conditions that seriously compromise their lives. It has made me marvel at the extraordinary bloody-mindedness, fortitude and resilience of the human spirit.

Also, it has made me reflect on just how much negative energy many of us carry around with us all of the time. How often do we say to ourselves, “I’m no good at that” or “I’d never be able to do it!” Or “I’m useless” or simply “I can’t”? Why don’t we say instead, “I can” or “I will”? Just a shift in mental attitude and a whole world of opportunity opens up to us. Our choices, literally, become limitless.

Since I have had MS one thing has become blindingly clear to me. The damage we do to our bodies with this negative energy. I am one of the unfortunate ones that have constant, unremitting pain. It is akin to permanently jamming my finger in a live electrical socket. What I have noticed, however, is that if I let any kind of energy like that effect me, that the pain increases exponentially. Instantly. I am talking anger, hatred, despair, grief. Any emotion that drags our spirits down and makes us feel low. So I avoid these emotions, if humanly possible, although grief is a tough one for anybody to handle.

If it has this effect on me, it is having that effect on you too. The difference is that for those of you that are hale and hearty, you simply do not sense what you are doing to your body. You are poring poison into yourself. Literally. The vituperation you may be aiming at someone else isn’t really touching them. But boy, is it toxic for you. What possesses you to want to keep stabbing yourself in the back? And you are you know. You don’t feel it, you don’t see it, but that is what you are doing. Why? What purpose does it serve? It just makes you less happy and less healthy. And believe me when I tell you that health is the single most valuable asset we have. Fame. Fortune. Success. Relationships. All are meaningless or, at the very least in jeopardy, without your health. It is critical to most things in life and you only realize this when you lose it, like I did, and then it’s too late.

So replace any negative talk with positive dialogue, with affirmations, with feel-good phraseology. You will be astonished at how much better you feel. You will begin to feel bigger, wider, more self-assured. As you begin to really approve of yourself, your life starts to telescope away into a bright new future. The future you always envisaged for yourself. A future that brings you joy and real happiness . And believe me, it will. I am living testament to the fact.