This year the weather has been very hot and humid, which seems to drain my energy. It takes away any desire to do anything but relax in a cool, air conditioned room, drinking ice-cold water.

The hot weather is not likely to cool down in the near future, which seems to be putting my life on hold. Although I have made many plans for the next few months, I am just completely without any desire to act on the plans. This not only leaves me feeling hot and tired but also irritable within myself.

This is not something I would normally write about, yet I imagine that many people have felt the way that I do at some time in their life.

Feeling sorry for myself I decided to take action, and write down how I felt.

Having read what I had written, I realised my attitude about the heat was limiting my ability to move positively forward.

I realise that the first step to changing any situation, is to be aware that there is a situation.

The second step is an even bigger step, to do something about it! So I decided it was time to do something to change, perhaps not the weather,  but certainly my attitude to it.

Using the air conditioning, I concentrated on things to get the ball rolling. Then, as I decided on my next plan of action, my thoughts shifted from the heat and my energy levels slowly started to increase.  Doing this made me aware that I still had more juice in my tank.

My sister and I are going to Tasmania for a few weeks shortly,  and although I was still affected by the heat, focusing my attention on the trip seemed to make the hot weather more tolerable.

I realised that there was a lesson to be learnt by this experience. What we focus on is what controls us, not only our thoughts, but also our attitude to life.

I had focused on the heat and the fact that I didn’t feel like doing anything, which sapped my energy, leaving me feeling that there was nothing I could do about it. It was my thoughts – not the heat – that had drained my tank.

I wonder how many times in our life we drain our own tanks?

I realise that my life has always been an endless series of choices, for which I have always taken responsibility for.

So I made a choice to stop concentrating on the heat, or my age. It was my attitude that I needed to change.

By the way, it is still very hot, but I am too busy now to dwell on it.

-Nancy.