Does every cloud have a silver lining? It very much depends on your attitude. When times are difficult it can be quite hard to find anything positive. Every problem seems somehow to be magnified out of proportion. Things you never considered to be a problem suddenly become a major issue.

If you switch on the television or listen to the radio it's all gloom and doom. 'News people' seem to feast on problems, picking away at the carcass until there is nothing left.

On the other hand, if you don't take some note of what's happening and live your life in a dream, there's likely to be the odd shock or two waiting for you.

It's an alarming fact that we take decisions on 5% of the available information. The message is clear. We need develop our awareness and start to ask more questions. We need to season our diet of bad news with a few facts.

Actually, we need to do this in our personal lives, not just when there's a crisis, but all the time. We need to constantly ask questions to ensure that we are well informed.

When it comes to our health many of us cast a blind eye at the mirror. We ignore the threat that being overweight poses to our health. We don't ask questions of ourselves. We do things that we know are not good for us, yet we persist. When our health deteriorates because of either the abuse or neglect of our body, we are struck dumb. Too late for questions, perhaps or maybe we are all too aware of our error of our ways.

The causes of the credit crunch are strangely similar. We live a lie, we don't deal with problems when they occur, we just hope they will go away. Our inaction and inattention puts our future at risk.

It's not all bad news! A crisis can also be an opportunity. It doesn't do any harm to be brought up short and faced with the reality of one's own mortality from time to time. It can be a very useful prompt to take action. We might all be faced with the reality of having to cut-back, it might also be an opportunity to slim down as well. There is no time like the present to examine our behaviors and start to learn new habits - slim habits. Slimmer and healthier, we will be better able to cope with what lies ahead - good or bad.