I had been out chatting with my good friend, The Multi Instrumentalist.

We were mulling over the great questions of life.

Such as at what point will The Boys From Anfield get over the finishing line and finally clinch the league title after 30 long years of waiting?

And is there a pint of Guinness available anywhere in the solar system that comes remotely close to that which is served in The Great Institution of Chatham Street?

And crucially, what exactly constitutes a really hot babe?

A man with a multitude of opinions on any number of subjects, My Good Self felt honoured to be in the company of such a wise and knowledgeable young chap.

In the heat of the discussion he remarked to me that I seemed to be in relatively good form of late.

I did not disagree with him.

Indeed My Good Self has been trotting along quite nicely in recent times.

Apart, of course, from the chess.

I duly informed The Multi Instrumentalist that I felt I was achieving a good life balance these days, and that after years of rigorous experimentation, I had finally gotten the consumption levels for the Guinness, the Santa Helena Merlot, the ham salad sandwiches on brown bread and the Pringles sour cream and onion crisps just right.

My Good Self is nothing if not an advocate of the most thorough research in these matters.

The Multi Instrumentalist then informed My Good Self of the ‘70% theory’. The idea that a body functions best when running at 70% capacity, leaving the remaining 30% available to deal with the life’s difficult times.

My Good Self paused for a moment and briefly reflected on the most traumatic hours of my humble existence to date.

Those times when the keg of Guinness needed changing and I needed to muster all my powers of patience as I waited for the second pint of the black stuff to arrive.

The times when my local Spar had somehow failed to restock the shelves with the Santa Helena Merlot.

The times when I mistakenly threw the salt & vinegar Pringles into the shopping basket instead of the sour cream & onion.

In a flash it became clear to My Good Self that these were the ‘30% times’.

My times of trauma.

At the end of our little chat, I thanked The Multi Instrumentalist for his wise words.

I shall in future reserve 30% of my energy levels for the stormy times.

My Good Self and The Multi Instrumentalist shall meet again.

Very soon.