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“Life is difficult. This is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it.” So reads the opening sentence of M. Scott Peck’s book, A Road Less Travelled.

Although we may accept that life is full of challenges, we often hold on to negative experiences and use them to define our personality or illustrate our life story. The empathy received encourages us to keep stock of the difficult situations we face and recount our experiences with an air of quasi-heroism.

Yet harbouring negative information is not only bad for our mental wellbeing, but can affect our health. Through his crystal experiments, Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto discovered that water is powerfully affected by positive and negative energy. Water subjected to negative words or unkind gestures was photographed through a microscope, revealing astounding results and distorted molecules. When the same water was treated with kindness and classical music, snapshots revealed perfectly formed crystalline snowflake structures. Considering that our bodies are 80% water, negative thoughts and practices can potentially cause a significant amount of damage.

Learn to affront each challenge independently without carrying baggage from past experiences. When faced with a situation which appears insurmountable, recognise the challenge and learn from it. Above all, once you have overcome it, learn to let it go – for good.

In the words of a noted golf coach, “Play each ball as if it is the first. Play it. Forget it. Move on.”