The pandemic and Brexit are depressing if I think about them. I just pray Trump doesn't get re-elected. 3 disasters in the same year would be horrendous.
But apart from those (huge) things, I think that this year has the same mixture of good and bad as every year.
There have been some terrible terrorist incidents recently but I grew up at a time when there were daily deaths in Northern Ireland and occasional bombings on the British mainland so to me it's only the nature of the terrorist threat that's new. A couple of years ago, Isis controlled a massive part if the Middle East but now the Caliphate has been destroyed which is real positive news.
Every year, people get diagnosed with cancer. That's nothing new. Maybe the people in the news recently are just people you relate to more, or maybe you've just taken more notice because we're more aware of illness and death announcements after the daily briefings back in the Spring.
I'm a fairly optimistic and positive person anyway and am incredibly lucky at the moment because my job is safe, I live in a part of the country that hasn't been hit hard and none of my family or friends have been ill with covid.
That probably makes it easier to look on the bright side of things and to try to turn negatives into positives.
Our Easter and Summer holidays were cancelled which was initially disappointing but I ended up really enjoying having that time in the garden and really relaxing. I also used the summer holidays to get fit and lose weight, both of which have helped me to feel positive about myself.
I'm a primary school teacher and have a lovely class this year. They settled back into school incredibly well after such a long break and I loved last term.
The weather this week has been awful but I've enjoyed curling up on the settee and working my way through some of the films that I've recorded and never have time to watch, and my pile of unread books.
We usually go away for a few days on Boxing day but that obviously won't happen so I made my Christmas cake and have enjoyed looking through my recipes to see what else I want to bake for Christmas.
Having Strictly, Bake Off and Only Connect back on tv all make me happy. I actually prefer the new socially distanced Strictly - still plenty of dancing but not so much of the annoying bits.
The only thing that's really denting my positive mood at the moment is my teenage dd who seems to have gone nocturnal this week and is lying next to me, fast asleep and snoring worse than dp does.