‘Remember the diamonds not the coal’ – this is a phrase that has helped me to reframe my thoughts from negative to positive a thousand times over.

So often our minds are drawn to worries and depressive thoughts and once our brain is on that track it can be difficult to escape this groove.

One day many years ago, while an inpatient on a mental health ward, I was musing that if I only remembered my very worst darkest days then the rest of my life would surely be better.

The ward sister, a wise woman indeed, replied, ‘Why no, you need to remember the diamonds not the coal; the bright, diamond moments not the black ones.’

As I share this with you now, I have passed this little phrase on to friends, family and work colleagues down the years since in conversation, in greetings cards and on post-it notes.

It is displayed on a postcard on my desk and in my eye line as I type to remind me to focus on the positive when glancing back and in the moment.

As you go through your day today and week ahead, as we continue to endure the various restrictions on daily life which Coronavirus has brought, I implore you too to ‘remember the diamonds not the coal’.

Liz S

A Moodscope member.