Fear and joy stretch time as do stimuli that move towards us. When we experience something as ‘taking a long time’ it is really the result of three inter-twined processes: the actual duration of the event, how we feel about the event, and whether we think the event is approaching us. It is all about our mind-set!

January has been the season for prognostications… But how can we make predictions when things are uncertain? Will our economy ever recover; will the unprecedented drought continue or will we see signs of relief; and will we ever beat England in the cricket? Perhaps what we need to do this year is to think about how we can stretch out time and enjoy the simple things that we have around us.

As the song lyric goes, “Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it.” In 2015 that changed, as 196 nations assembled in Paris and, after 20 years of previous attempts, finally came to a climate change agreement that will impact just about everyone on the planet in 2016 and beyond.
We need to investigate what positives we can take from 2015 and build on in 2016. Although we enter 2016 feeling quite vulnerable, we are also a nation who stands on a firm foundation and who can weather even more severe storms.

The articles in this issue are testimony to our resilience and determination. I am sure we can embrace what lies ahead and stop time flying quite so fast.

Louisa May Alcott said “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”