The deadliest killer is to be found, not among the myriad diseases out there waiting to descend upon us at any moment, but right here in our minds. Negativity; surrender and self-deprecation can do more damage to one's health than any combination of germs, stress or cellular dysfunction. Extreme examples have reportedly been found in Australia where young, healthy aborigines, having been "cast out" by their elders, die in hospital in spite of all that modern medical science can do.

We need not go so far to see what "giving up on life" can bring. We are all familiar with people who have simply stopped trying to live a life with any goal or purpose, and we have seen how they just seem to fall sick and die within a few years for no real reason at all. Yes, they had high blood pressure, but so too does one in every three people over forty in this society. So they had diabetes, but the health that people with diabetes enjoy is largely a matter of control. And as for cancer, we all probably have it lurking somewhere in our bodies; the time and place that it breaks more dependent on our habits and our expectations than on our `fate'.

But more significant than those who give up and die are those who defy the odds and live; people who have been severely injured or struck down with some deadly disease and who recover beyond all expectations. The will to live is as impressive in its power as is the surrender to death described above, and we do not have to wait for a catastrophe to benefit from it. People who are naturally positive are blessed, but a positive attitude can be acquired like any of life's other skills. All it takes is practice - with a little help from a good teacher.

The best teachers are those who teach by example. They do not have to be paragons of good living; what is important is an awareness of what good living is all about. We all have personal reasons why we are not living up to our expectations, but it is not difficult to spot those who have no intention of doing so. Such people are to be avoided like the plague. It is not a lack of awareness that has caused them to give up, but the very negativity that we have eschewed, and it can be contagious.

The secrets of success are to be learned from those who are successful. To cultivate healthy habits, one should mingle with healthy people, recalling that health is primarily a matter of attitude. Do not find yourself agreeing with such morbid declarations as "you have to die from something," or being misled by the self- deluded who boast: "I have never been sick a day in my life". Good health has nothing to do with death or sickness.

To paraphrase Forest Gump, positive is as positive does. It is in the act of taking control that one will find the resolve to make a change in one's life. Do not go to the doctor to find out if you are sick, but to ascertain how healthy you are (a subtle difference in intent that may be lost on the doctor). You do not need a "diagnosis": that is for the doctor to know if he is to treat your complaints. What you need is an understanding of what it is you have to do in order to achieve your health objectives.

In other words, you want information on "wellness", not sickness, and it just so happens that some of the information is common to both. When you check your cholesterol, it is not to see if it is high, but to find out what it is. You want to know your cholesterol, and that is a good enough reason for measuring it. You do not need your doctor's permission.

To take control you have to know yourself, and that requires that you take a good look at your life. A medical check up may or may not be a turning point in your life: it all depends on what the doctor decides. A wellness assessment IS a turning point in your life: it is done because you have already decided to take control. All that is required is a focus for the effort you are going to make.

There are those who focus exclusively on one or other aspect of life. (The Buddha himself was an example of this, for if his figurines are anything to go by, he was in pretty poor physical condition.) They are misguided no matter how lofty their singular ambition. Healthy living has to be holistic with an equal concern for each dimension: physical, emotional, occupational, environmental, spiritual, social and intellectual. The recognition one receives for outstanding achievement in one area is not to be confused with "success" in life. What is the point in being rich and famous if your heart is failing and your children hate you?