I’ve decided to dedicate this final column of the year to a review of the articles I wrote for this magazine in 2024, taking into account my commitment to be more positive in my writing. At the end of the article, I’ll give you a tally of how I feel I got on in that respect.

We started well, as January saw me writing in glowing terms about the Catalan health system following a health scare at the end of 2023. Yes, a positive start as I began the year with gratitude – both for Catalonia’s healthcare professionals and for surviving a surprise hospitalisation. A simple ER visit for congestion escalated into a heart procedure after alarmingly high troponin levels were detected. The experience left me shaken but immensely thankful for the kindness and expertise of the doctors and nurses. It also gave me a new lease on life: “I enter 2024 not only with gratitude but a first-ever bucket list”.

In February, I vented about my struggles with a........

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