Staying positive takes considerably more mental strength these days.

Once upon a time, the mere rumour of the giro arriving was enough to brighten the week, whereas now it requires motivational podcasts, deep breathing, and the heroic discipline of not reading the news before breakfast.

Those simpler days seem to have disappeared along with ankle-length nightdresses and husbands handing over the full pay packet on Friday, and families somehow managing eight children, a mortgage, and optimism on one income.

In hindsight, it sounds less like nostalgia and more like a financial miracle wearing slippers.

Noel Doran: The Jeffrey Donaldson I saw in south Down

Patrick Murphy: Will Irish unity come at the price of independence?

If you are the kind of person who lets the headlines set the tone for your day, recent news may have tempted you to take a long walk off a short cliff. Between scandal, political chaos at home and abroad, and the general sense that someone has misplaced the instruction manual for being decent, it is easy to forget that good things still happen.

Take the World Cup, for instance. In the middle of an otherwise messy political climate, the sight of the global community gathering in the USA has produced some genuinely........

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