New Year's Resolutions

At this time of year, a lot of us are starting to break our new year's resolutions: we've decided to go for a run every morning or only have ice cream on the weekend and it's all got too much.

I heard an advert over Christmas which said something along the lines of, "Actually you're doing okay. Don't feel the need to beat yourself up over huge changes you don't need to make and probably won't stick anyway".

That inspired me to change...nothing. Up until today. I am flying back to my family in Australia from a visit to my family and friends in Europe and I'm doing the whole airport for three hours thing. It's very boring and at times aggrivating, especially as security seems to have been tightened.

I was queuing for my hand baggage to be searched for the third time and I started thinking about where I was and what was happening.

I could be grumpy about the extra security but with wars going on in the world, there's probably a good reason for it. Actually I should be grateful to security for doing their bit to keep me safe.

I've got a 24 hour flight ahead of me which is tedious but I could afford to come to the UK to see some of the oldest friends I have ("Hi Matt!") and to wish my Mum a happy 80th birthday in person. Maybe I should be grateful for that.

I am stuck at the airport writing this but, having got up at 5am, I've got time and space to think about my writing for once and devote myself to getting words down on paper, well on screen actually. That feels like something to be grateful for.

So part way through this year I have resolved to change things. I am going to find things to be grateful for and then express that gratitude. I will actively seek three things each day to show gratitude towards. That's a resolution I hope I can stick to.

Many thanks to Adam.J.W.C. for the use of the picture