I’m alive when I should be dead. In another movie, I missed the sliding door and departed this wondrous life long ago. Like so many others, I’ve had to learn to live not knowing if I have a tomorrow, because, statistically, I shouldn’t have. At the age of 35, I was blindsided by incurable bowel cancer – I was given a less than 8% chance of surviving five years. More than five years later, my only option is to live in the now and to value one day at a time.

So how do you flip your mind from a negative spiral into realistic and rebellious hope? How do you stop focusing on the why and realise that ‘why not me’ is just as valid a question? How we learn to respond to any given situation empowers us or destroys us. We have the ability in our minds to dictate our own outcomes – bad or good – and with the right skills and approach, we can be the master of our lives.