Good Things About 2022
What with Russia, the cost of living, two Tory prime ministers we didn't even vote for and Neil Parish suffering the indignity of accidentally stumbling across pornography whilst innocently searching for pictures of tractors, it would be easy to dismiss 2022 as a terrible year. However, as is my annual tradition, I will try to find some of the positives we saw in 2022.
#10 - Andrew Tate gates arrested with help from a pizza box.
If you haven't heard of Andrew Tate, he is a man who has made millions from convincing insecure men that he can turn them into millionaires if they pay him money whilst styling himself as an internet guru. He does that thing where he mixes obvious facts with hate speech so people can say, 'well, lots of what he says is actually true.'
Anyway, whilst verbally attacking that teenage environmental activist we all know, he gave away his location to police via a pizza box and has been arrested for reasons including potentially being involved in human trafficking. So, hopefully we don't hear from him in a while!
#9 - Prince Andrew kicked out of Buckingham Palace.
Another man who was potentially involved with a human trafficker, Prince Andrew seemed to be surviving disturbingly well. I mean, consider how much more hate Megan and Harry have got in the Media than him despite him clearly having having done much worse things than make a mildly critical Netflix show.
However, in an act of common sense, King Charles has now supposedly banned him from Buckingham Palace. Hopefully meaning we don't have to see his sweaty face as much in the future.
#8 - Lionesses became European champions.
After 33 years of disappointing England results, I finally got to see an England team lift a major international trophy! It also massively helped to raise positive publicity towards women's football in this country.
#7 - Britain has begun to embrace the 4 day working week.
For a long time, it has been the norm for people in many professions to be expected to work longer and longer hours. This is often accompanied by a toxic 'grind' culture that tries to convince people that longer hours worked, even at the expense of things like sleep and time spent with family, mean greater success (it doesn't).
However, the world's biggest four day working week pilot is underway in the UK meaning a healthier balance may be on the cards for many people in the near future.
#6 - Work towards a cancer vaccine getting closer.
With all the work towards vaccines in recent years, attention has now been turned towards creating a vaccine for cancer. One of the main companies working towards this has said that there may be cancer vaccine available for the public by 2030!
#5 - A cure for Alzheimer's is now closer.
In another breakthrough for health and medicine, a drug has been tested that appears to slow memory decline by up to 27%. This means that a cure for the most common form of Dementia could now be on the horizon.
#4 - Jack Grealish makes the day for a child with cerebral palsy.
When Jack Grealish performed a strange, wriggly dance after scoring a goal in the World Cup, it could be easy to think, 'wtf is he doing?' However, it later turned out that he had done this for a 12 year old with cerebral palsy called Finlay Fisher who had made the request after meeting him previously.
The fact that the first thing Grealish would think about after one of the biggest moments in his career is a young fan with a disability can't help but warm your heart.
#3 - Some endangered animals are making a come back.
We only ever hear the bad news stories about the environment which is obviously because of how important they are but there are some positives.
For one, despite the vast majority of scientists saying that we are heading towards climate catastrophe, a few of the guys at my gym have told me that climate change is completely made up so we should be fine. In more sane news though, some animals such as the Antolian Leopard and Grey Wolves have actually been increasing in number.
#2 - Steps are taken towards fighting deforestation.
The new Brazilian prime minister has vowed to halt deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest which is a drastic change from the policies of his predecessor. Other countries have also made progress in this area such as many members of the EU now banning the important of many products considered some of the main drivers of deforestation.
#1 - My son was born!
Maybe not as important for other people but I think he's pretty cool.
