For some people, 2007 started badly and will end on a positive note. For others, 2007 started full of promise and optimism but will end on a sour note. After all, life is full of ups and downs.

There are people who found a new love this year; others might have ended what was a special relationship and are slowly rebuilding their life. Friendships have been renewed, others lost. Some started the year at loggerheads with a person they love, but will end it on good terms after patching things up; for others the opposite took place and it will be the first time they will not be finishing the year together.

There are people who lost someone special during 2007; a father, a mother, a brother or a sister, a son or a daughter, perhaps even a close friend. Then there are couples who became parents for the first time this year, or had their second or third child.

There are people who have quit smoking, who spent a lovely holiday abroad and whose favourite football team gave them a year to remember. There are others who were unwell for a good part of the year, had to postpone their holidays for a variety of reasons and whose football team disappointed them yet again.

Some will remember very special days, maybe a dinner under the stars with someone they adore, attending a music concert of their favourite singer, receiving a surprise present or simply an afternoon at the beach away from it all.

Others will recall their car breaking down in a storm, a power cut in the middle of a birthday party at home, a fight with their superior over a day’s vacation leave or a planned holiday that had to be cancelled because of the flu.

Perhaps one made a bad investment, while the other won the Super Five lottery. One may have bought something they had been longing for, while another may have damaged a work of art through negligence. Some still treasure an sms they received, perhaps more than one; others have erased messages from their mobile and would like to forget about them.

Of course, matters are not that clear-cut between the positives and the negatives – and God forbid it was that way – as most of us had a mixture of fortunes in the year that is about to end.

The last days of December are always a time for reviews and resolutions. One looks back at what happened in the last 12 months, particularly at the mistakes that one might have committed, in the hope that they will not be repeated.

Perhaps an extra word that was better left unsaid to a work colleague, or saying “no” out of spite when it could have easily been a “yes”, or thinking badly about someone who, it turned out later, had good intentions.

One also looks forward to the New Year, making resolutions in an attempt to improve. Some will go for a diet to look better, others will resolve to go for a long brisk walk every day to improve their health, some might think of better ways how to spend more time with their families.

Some will, for the umpteenth time, resolve to quit smoking; others aim to spend more time doing voluntary work; there are then those who aim to at least cut down on their drinking, or to get up earlier to try to get more things done. Some people will try to be more punctual or to organise themselves better. Others will try to look at life in a more optimistic way.

We all have our good and bad sides. What is important is that we strengthen the good that we possess, and try to work on our negative aspects. We might not be successful in our attempts, but at least we must all try.