I have always been grateful that I am a New Zealander and that I live in this wonderful country, I say it often. And in 2021, I am especially grateful that my children and their families also live nearby. I count Auckland as nearby compared to Melbourne, Hong Kong or London where many of my friends’ offspring and grandchildren live, a distance too great and a permanent barrier to touching, hugs and shared experiences together.

The freedoms of travel and the ‘right of passage’ as a millennial, to do your OE in Europe, Asia or the UK are behind us, for now. Let’s be grateful that we live in our little corner of the world called paradise, where the second round of community COVID cases didn’t infiltrate our lives until August 2021.

It’s only been four months that our lives have been restricted, not a lifetime. Aren’t we grateful we kept this gnarly virus out of ‘Godzone’ for so long? Free vaccinations, free COVID testing and often free masks means there is no excuse not to join the team of 5 million, so we can all resume a sense of normalcy and freedoms we enjoy in this blessed country.

Counting blessing was on the tip of my mother’s tongue throughout her life, and that’s become my affirmation too. Good health is everything, platitude or not. I’m grateful that that’s the ambition of at least 90 percent of us and will be even more grateful if the remaining 10 percenters make this their mission too.