As we head towards a new year, many of us are working on our New Years’ Resolutions. Since many of my own resolutions never get resolved, I’ve instead decided to create a list of “Holiday Hopes” instead. My thinking is to take the positive energies from holiday-time cheer and goodwill and channel it into a series of hopes that will hopefully resonate throughout the year.
Here are my holiday hopes, not only for myself and those dear to me, but to all of us reading this piece.
I hope we each resolve to do something creative every day
Resolve to be creative! It could be making a little craft, a do-it-yourself project, a blog post, taking a picture or video, or anything else requiring creative energy. Be sure that you do something creative at least once a day. It’s good for your brain! But, it’s also good emotionally and spiritually. Also, as Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
I hope we each perform a few spontaneous good deeds every day
You could call them “random acts of kindness,” but that phrase has become a bit cliche. Still, assisting someone carry items across the street or to their vehicle can really help someone’s day. Helping someone who’s short on change at the store is another one.
Beyond that, it can be as simple as giving a heartfelt compliment to someone having a bad day. Kind words go a lot further than you might think. Even if it’s just on social media, helping someone who’s having a problem or tough time is a very important way to spread positive energy – something we could always use more of every day.
I hope we each do something to build up one or more people each day
In the online world, we often like and reshare to help each other get more exposure. But, what we should do more often is add thoughtful commentary to our shares. We should also reply and comment on every post that truly interests us, whether it’s on social media or a blog. Finding new ways to help others should be a priority, because wouldn’t we want others to do the same for us?
Also, in “real life” we can do much the same thing. Just because you can’t hit like and reshare doesn’t mean you can’t help build appreciation for something a friend or other loved one cares about or invests their time into.
I hope we each find quality time to spend with friends and family
The holidays are a great time to spend extra time with friends and family. While that’s a great feature of the holidays, we really should each resolve to set aside time just for friends and family to do things that they like to do with us. I feel like many of us get too busy with work these days and we don’t spend nearly enough time with those around us that we love. This is something I need to work on myself, for sure.
If your friends and family are primarily online, that’s OK, too. As long as you set aside time to give others dear to you your time, that’s what counts.
I hope we each manage to save at least one life this year.
For all the good that goes around at the holidays, the sad truth is that the holidays are also some of the worst times for many people. I’ve had some very crumby holidays myself. So, I know what it’s like to see others spending money they don’t really have to spend on Christmas presents when you can’t even give your kids a good meal more than once a day.
This hope goes way beyond doing spontaneous good deeds for those less fortunate. It’s more than giving spare change or an extra dollar to your favorite charity – although that can do something. This is about actually connecting with people that could use your help, and it doesn’t have to be money. It needs to be personal, though. Your compassion could actually save a life.
It’s the same with people who are thinking of committing suicide. Making someone realize that they are important is a big deal. This is something I have done before online and over the phone. Those people are still alive today, so I feel that I may have saved a few lives over the years. I believe it should be a goal to save at least one life this year. Hopefully, we can all save many more than that.
Happy holidays, everyone. I hope that we can each resolve to do one or more of these things next year and for all years to come.
What are your resolutions and hopes for the new year?
~ Amelia <3
