A New Year, Some Thank-Yous, and a Reflection on Kindness

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture, you can change a person's life. 

I stumbled across this quote a couple days ago, and all I could think is that it perfectly reflected my feelings. I don't know who originally said it, or what the original context is. This quote has become the inspiration for the following post. Hope you enjoy :) 

A New Year, Some Thank-Yous, and a Reflection on Kindness

Hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing/fun-filled (which ever you prefer) Christmas! Mine was eventful (to say the least), but it was definitely nice to get home to be with my parents and bunny (not to mention having a washing machine constantly at my disposal!). 

So, here's my little New-year's post. I've been mulling over a post like this for a while, and I thought what better time to do it than at the close of the old year? It's evolved and changed in the few days I've spent writing it, but now that it's finished, I'm pleased with how it's turned out.

The New Year is a time of new beginnings; of a fresh start. I can't count how many zillions of New Year's resolutions or promises I've made to myself over the years, and I've probably kept maybe two of them, if that. All of them have involved change, but always a superficial change. Lose weight, learn to walk in 6 inch heels, 'be prettier'. I've never had a resolution in my life that wasn't completely idiotic. So this year, I've made four resolutions. Four because that's my lucky number.

1. See Phantom as many times as possible.
2. Express gratitude to those who make a difference in my life.
3. Each day, find one act of kindness that happened during the day.
4. Be kind to everyone.

Which brings me to my next order of business: kindness. It took me until early december to realise, but kindness has played a huge part in my last year, and without it, I don't want to think about where I'd be. It wouldn't be a good place, to say the least. And it's made me realise the important part kindness plays in everyone's lives, and what a massive difference it can make to a person. Even something as small as a door held open, helping a stranger with their bags on a train, or even just a smile or a wave in passing can make all the difference in the world.

So whenever I get upset (which is a lot) for whatever reason, I have kindness to look back on. I'm not going to point out particular people, but there are certain people in the last year whose kindness has made all the difference in the world. 

With that, here are some thank-yous that need to be said. I wish I could go on for a bit for each person that needs to be thank, but the socially aware part of my brain - small as it is - is telling me that that's not an appropriate thing to put in a public blog. I wish I could just list all of the names, but that list would probably be impossible to properly construct, and I don't want to leave anyone out.

So, thank you. Whether we've only spoken in passing, are acquaintances, or are close friends, you've made a difference to me, and I can't thank you enough!

And so ends this New Year's Post. I hope I didn't come off as too selfish, always talking about myself, but I'm afraid when thanking people for things they've done for you, there's no other way to put it. But I have tried my best.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the coming year is full of kindness, love, friendship, and happiness for you.