You may have heard of the following expression: Plant flowers, flowers grow. Plant weeds, weeds will grow. Plant nothing, what grows? Nothing? No, weeds.

This is a poetic anecdote reminding us that it is not enough to keep away from the negative stuff. There needs to be a pro-active planting of positive, feel-good matter if flowers are to grow, mentally speaking. Just as we are what we eat, so too our minds and moods react to what we have digested in the mind.

There are more gossipy magazines, toxic web-sites and television programmes and depressing news stories than you can shake a stick at. Let's be resolved not only to steer away from them but to replace any chewing-gum-for-the mind-matter with uplifting, encouraging material.

And don't forget to share any nice thoughts too. Repeating what you learn will not only help you to memorize it but it helps spread the feel-good factor also. Was it Shakespeare who said: 'The fragrance of the rose lingers on the hand that casts it'?