I’ve always had a lot of difficulty with word ‘love’ because you can ‘love’ anything from ice cream, to your dog or wife and religious or spiritual people are always telling us that we should to ‘love’ everyone – and there’s no way I can do that.

I might not be able to love everyone but I can find patience and kindness toward them, so I work with that. The ‘soft front and strong back’ mean that I can meet everyone with patience and kindness first and to do that it can be supported by resolve, determination and fortitude. This also means that the soft front isn’t weak and can’t be taken advantage of.

Good manners and kindness mean that you light a room up when you enter whereas rudeness and spite mean that you light it up when you leave. People often bemoan the fact that they have no friends or support and are unable to see why, whereas everyone else can see it as plain as the nose on their face.

When we are our anger, emotions and desires, we’re blinded by them and can’t see how they affect those around us, but when we become mindful and observe them, we are able to have a much more objective view of life and are able to see ourselves as others do and control them.

As a child we think that we’re the centre of the universe, good parenting and education should teach us that we’re not and how to live happily and become a good member of the community.

It’s a shame that some never learn those lessons.