Take me to that other place

I used to laugh at those circulars you get this time of year. The ones that attempt to tell you all about how much better other people's lives are than yours, but don't. What else is a blogger's end of year post but that?

Anyway, in times like these there's no real need for any of that. Most of us are so narcissistic that all of our witty. clever, erudite lives are all over various forms of social media. Believe me, no one is listening. So let me be quite clear, to quote one of our recent clutch of Prime Ministers, I'm doing this for me. Prime Ministers are like West Ham managers. They used to last for ages and now they come along faster than London buses.

I've been ill a lot this year. So fewer (thanks Stannis) kilometres on the bike than for many a year. But what with Everything that has happened around all of that, I'm feeling very optimistic about my cycling for 2020. I think I may have finally have kicked the habit of kilometres for kilometres sake, and the gym work I've been doing seems to be paying real dividends in terms of the metrics.

But. It's still about Joy. It has to be. I have won the lottery of life to be fair. Born at the right time in the right circumstances with a lot to be thankful for. As I'm fond of reminding people, none of us are going to live forever, I've had a pretty good life so far, and the overall quality, if not the elasticity of my face's collagen, seems to be going up.

I know that for many, many people life is tough, unfair, a struggle, sad, depressing, achingly lonely. I count my blessings. I also know that by and large, most people are doing their best to be kind, friendly and decent.

With the demise of Game of Thrones this year, it's hard to find heroes. But we actually don't need them. There is more that unites us than divides us, if you want to be. As a wise woman once said to me, "do you want to make a difference or just a point?"

And if Game of Thrones teaches us anything, it's that Dragons and big armies don't win you love or kingdoms in the end. So as an even wiser woman said to me, "Be Generous", because if you want it to be, every day can be a beautiful one.

Merry Christmas