Writing this column is among my favourite parts of my job.
When I was told I would be filling the slot once every three weeks, not once a fortnight, it's fair to say I complained somewhat. This shift in the schedule also means I have landed on New Year's Day - an occasion for which it's a bit tricky to hit the right tone if you want to avoid all the usual clichés - and this year its harder than most.
My email inbox is filled with the extremes: Reflections on the utterly tragic George Square bin lorry accident sit beside press releases puffing toy storage solutions. Updates on Pauline Cafferkey, the nurse diagnosed with Ebola in Glasgow after returning from a volunteering stint in Sierra Leone, follow fitness gurus offering pricey ways to keep New Year's Resolutions. A tiny shift of the mouse and instead of reading about the children orphaned by disease in West Africa, I am looking at "fun" recipes to try with prunes.
It reminds me of advice passed on by The Herald's former defence correspondent Ian Bruce on a particularly bad day in the office: "Few things matter very much, and most things don't matter at all."
I was pregnant with my first daughter when he said it, and its stayed with me through the ups and downs of juggling a part-time job with a family that rapidly expanded to include three young children.
Health is one of the things which does matter of course. I'm all for enjoying life and the lovely sugary, smelly cheesey, deep burgundy wonders that are so readily available on our doorstep. I'm also suspicious of the industry built on supposedly making healthy-living easier while actually making it more complicated.
But, the bottom line is looking after yourself can be a bit like saving a pension - it makes for a better old age. Full credit should go to Professor Phil Hanlon, public health expert at Glasgow University, for getting me to join a gym with that pearl of wisdom some years back.
I don't belong any more, though. As I've probably said before, I coped with the tiredness of twin infants and a toddler with bucketfuls of biscuits and my exercise regime for the last three-and-a-half years has consisted of pushing a double buggy with scooters hanging off the back and not having time to sit down a lot. My New Year's resolution for 2015, now my energy levels are improving, is to cutback the biscuits and to try to do some kind of keep fit more regularly. I must also stop resenting my husband for wanting to do the same in his own way.
Amid all the distracting noise about how to lose weight and look good, there is a consistent message coming from a wide range of experts that a bit of exercise no matter what your age or ability is a very good thing. I think it is is worth taking notice of that.
But at the same time, whatever you do in 2015, try not to sweat the small stuff.
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