Merry Christmas!

It’s something of shock, checking this site, to realise that, aside from posting up the works lotto entries now and then, I’ve only made one post this year. (And that was to have another go at the Catholic Church – a habit I must keep under review as, for some strange reason, they seem to have elected a genuine Christian as Pope. Watch this space!)

My absence from the blogosphere may have something to do with it having been something of a difficult year.

In January I picked up the tab for forty years of forty a day and was diagnosed with emphysema. Basically, the message from that was that I’ve lost about a quarter of my working lung capacity, that I will spend the rest of my life using inhalers and that I needed to give up smoking if I wanted to see the other side of sixty.

In March we both gave up smoking, with all the psychological and physical problems that that can entail – I’m still *whisper* stone overweight, but at least I only get the cravings once a week or so.

On top of that, in the second week of April I fell over in Reigate, broke my arm and was off work for a month. Get back to work and there’s the most mahoosive “reorganisation” which has led all sorts of people to suffer all sorts of stress.

While this is all going on there are health problems elsewhere putting enormous strain on the family.

All in all 2013’s been a bit shit!

That said, I still remind myself on Christmas Eve how lucky I am.

  • I am lucky to have been born in an affluent country.
  • I am lucky to be fit enough to hold down a job.
  • I am lucky to be able to afford decent clothes.
  • I am lucky to have enough to eat.
  • I am lucky to have somewhere warm and dry to live.
  • I am lucky to enjoy decent healthcare.
  • I am lucky to have access to clean water!

Spare a thought tomorrow for all those who don’t get to enjoy what we sometimes take for granted as our birth-right.

Spare a thought for all those who will spend tomorrow working: the doctors, nurses, fire officers, paramedics, police – all those who make our comfortable lifestyle work.

Spare a thought for all those who don’t enjoy basic human rights.

Wherever you are tomorrow and whatever you’re doing – Merry Christmas.