Now, in spite of my rather mainstream religious beliefs, I've always been a bit hazy about Heaven and Hell. I sort of vaguely hope that in Heaven I will be reunited with not only humans but also my much loved pets that have passed on over the years.

I am pretty sure however that in my personal Hell there would be an area very much like Alton Towers containing the most enormous rides with names like 'Nemesis', 'Annihilator' and 'Total Perspective Vortex' (that last is a Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Joke, by the way).

So when the whole family was invited to the local 'Fun Park' you can imagine that I was not looking forward to the day. We went with the same people last year, and the three minutes I spent on the Pirate Ship ride have to rank as possibly the most unpleasant of my life so far.

But it was actually OK. I discovered that there was another adult in the group who did not want to go on the adventurous rides either and who was also happy to ride gently round and round on the Galloping Horses. This year the older girls could run off by themselves and go on the Roller Coaster sixteen times in a row while I joined the younger ones on the 'Babies' Ladybird ride.

In fact, it turned into quite an enjoyable day, and I'm glad I went and didn't make an excuse to duck out.

It's often the way, isn't it? We dread something and find it's not that bad after all. We think we will be the only one who – whatever, and find that there is someone else who also – whatever.

Maybe we could say "yes" more often. It might not actually be Hell!