So here it is: 2023. What a year to be alive!

I’m really looking forward to this year because it’s the year I’m going to get immensely rich AND win the Nobel Peace Prize, so you can see why I’m feeling chipper, right?

How are you going to do that, I hear you ask? (Or maybe you are commenting that I shouldn’t write columns after three glasses of bubbles on New Year’s Eve, which I haven’t, just to be clear).

So, I’ll let you in on my stunning plan. I have invented the greatest game of all time. It’s called ‘Gratitude’, suitable for all ages and available in a store near you soon.

Here’s how it works. There are four dice, but they are all different. One has six sides, with two zeroes, two ones and two twos. The other three are coloured red, white and blue and each have ten sides, with the numbers 0-9 on them.

The oldest of the players start first by rolling all the dice. They are then laid out with the six-sided dice on the left, followed in order by red, white and blue. This will give a year.

The player then goes to Wikipedia and types in that year. They then read out the worst thing that happened that year. Then everyone then takes a moment to think how bloody lucky they are to be living in 2023 rather than then.

Practice runs suggest I am on to a winner here. Some examples for you: In 1245, the Pope allows the Bishop of Finland to resign after he admits to torturing people. Doesn’t fire him or prosecute him for torturing people, just lets him resign. In 1616 smallpox hits New England, killing an estimated 90 (yes 90) percent of the Native American population. 1864 came up next, it was the start of the War of the Triple Alliance which raged for six years and resulted in Paraguay losing not only the war, but up to 69 per cent of its pre-war population. 

Every year that is rolled will come up with something to put things in perspective.

The point is this. There are some challenges ahead of us in 2023. There’s talk of a recession and I think the election may be quite an ugly one, but really, there is always something to worry about. We all need to remember though that no matter how the dice fall, we are incredibly bloody lucky to be living right here, right now.

Happy 2023 everyone.