At the extremes we can deny or indulge our appetite. We know how our powers tail off when we miss breakfast or lunch. We also know the lethargy that comes from too many birthday cakes.



But what about your mental diet? Some studies estimate that you will think around 60,000 thoughts today. Interestingly, most of these thoughts will be the same as yesterday.

Many thoughts simply come and go, yet there are some thoughts that you will choose to dwell on. Some of these become habitual, frequently appearing in your mental landscape.

Like food, these habitual thoughts - the ones we indulge - have a major influence on our energy levels, brain chemistry and overall health. So like food, it pays to choose them carefully.

You will know that when you have a sad thought, there is a clear physical echo in your body - perhaps a tight throat (choked-up), tears in the eyes and welling-up in the chest. This is an obvious example of the mind/body connection.

All of our thoughts have some physical consequence, so the thoughts we indulge, by spending a lot of time with them, have a major impact.

This is great when our thoughts are positive and inspiring - our physical world benefits from high energy, can-do mentality and buoyant health. But when our thoughts are pessimistic and depressing, our physical experience is exhausting and self-limiting.

It would seem that the recipe for success is positive thinking. Actually no, at least not when it means denying reality. If something is not good in your world, it is useless to pretend it is. Trying to suppress a thought simply magnifies it.

Now while you can't control what thoughts pop into your mind, you can control whether to indulge them. This is the way we shape our experience of physical reality.

For example, you could indulge thoughts about all the things you don't like, that are wrong in the world, that fill you with despair.

Alternatively, based in the same reality, you can indulge thoughts about what you do want to see, the reforms that you desire and the ways you could make a difference.

The secret is to become aware of your mental menu so you can choose what to indulge. To get started, choose a day and keep a tally of both your negative and positive thoughts.

Here's a suggested method. First get two kinds of uncooked beans - one kind a light colour and the other dark. Then get yourself two small containers - say empty jam jars or old yoghurt pots.

During the day, whenever you are aware of indulging a negative thought, put a dark bean in one container. Similarly when you are aware of indulging a positive thought, put a light colour bean in the other container. At the end of the day you'll easily see the result.

You may be surprised at your ability to choose your mental diet. How you use this ability will shape your world - opening exciting possibilities or closing them off. As you move towards the challenges and opportunities of the future, the choice is yours.