We enjoy best health when we are careful about what we eat, the company we keep, the images we absorb, the time we honour and the people we respect. Such timeless advice has been part of folklore for centuries but in these modern times many of us have abandoned this wisdom.

Curiously, our time-hungry societies have goaded us into less than healthy living patterns, where we eat fast foods and sugar-laden snacks, sleep less, exercise less, talk less and worry more about the mortgage, the children's schooling, depleting our reserves. Many of us run on adrenalin - or speed!

We know that this speedy lifestyle cannot last. If we are lucky, we can sustain better health if we buy a gym membership, take up yoga or even study meditation. But many of us just collapse on the sofa in front of the television, reaching for the anaesthetic of the TV.

There is a choice.

• Real food, with energy.

• Real face-to-face time with family and friends.

• Real time with the self, sitting quietly in the garden or in the park to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air.

• We are human beings, not human doings. When we drop our addiction to action, to being busy and ‘achieving' and just be - simply sit and breathe - we give our body a chance to heal and reset the balance.

One of life's challenges is to remain the ‘witness', one step removed from the hurly-burly. That extra space allows you the grace of a millimetre's distance to save you from getting over-involved and over-emotional. Seize the day and remember you are in charge of your life.