First they come as a whisper, an under-the-breath protest that things aren't quite right in the inner recesses of your body and mind. Those in tune with their inner voice or little symptoms will stop and check in with themselves, take stock and adjust; others will push on.

Next comes the spoken protest, it's more definite and it's accompanied by more persistent physical symptoms. At this stage your body and mind are definitely wanting your attention. They're saying "listen up, we're not happy, things are not going well". Are you listening? Or will you push on with more seemingly important things? Pop an aspirin, down a coffee, light a cigarette.

If we ignore the early warning signs, eventually they'll get louder and more insistent. They may even start to shout and scream via various unwelcome symptoms and states of mind.

Life is what you make it. It's an active process, a work in progress, a living lesson, and a lesson in living. What life is not is static, permanent, or set in stone. The beauty of that truth is that there is always something we can do, something we can change and some way in which we can move forward; and all it takes are two basic skills that we learned before we could walk - to pay attention and to take action.

Babies soon learn that noticing things and acting in direct response is what gets results. As adults, those of us who keep these two basic principles alive and active are the ones best equipped to go with the flow in life and make some advancing steps come what may.

If you've ever seen a potter at work you will notice that he pays very careful attention to what happens to the clay on his wheel, you may have also noticed that when maleable clay is spinning at a steady speed the slightest adjustment can have dramatic results.