A January ‘Make Life Special’ Challenge!

The things I set for myself to do last January helped make 2024 special for me.

Apparently up to 74% of Brits will make a New Year’s Resolution for 2025 and research also suggests that only 9% of resolutions make it through the year! The data is out there is quite contradictory but I think 9% is pretty good considering that many New Year’s Resolutions are made in haste, in reaction to a momentary feeling rather than being something that is close to the heart.

Last year I resolved to keep Third Thursday Club going (I love looking back at what I wrote) and I’m so glad I did, it is close to my heart and provided great moments with friends that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

I will keep Third Thursday Club as part of my life this year too. I’ll see friends and visit pubs that I love and explore a few new ones along the way.

Last year I had the joy of visiting Hawaii once more, a place I adore and somewhere that has been through tragedy, the loss of Lahaina in a devastating fire. The Hawaiians use the word Ohana for family and in Hawaiian culture Ohana is more than relatives, Ohana is community.

I love this definition of another and probably the most famous Hawaiian word, ‘Aloha’:

”Aloha” is more than a word of greeting or farewell or a salutation. ”Aloha” means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. “Aloha” is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. ”Aloha” means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.

I have a broad ‘Make Life Special Challenge’ for you this January:

Plan something you will do through the year that will bring you closer to friends and/or family.

It doesn’t need to be monthly, it may revolve around birthdays or a celebration. You may decide to do something once a quarter or twice this year. Whatever it is, plan something and make it happen, get people excited about it and create a memory that will last for years. You may even start something that becomes a habit.

Need some prompts? January 31st is National Hot Chocolate Day! Find some different hot chocolates to try, some flavoured recipes. Get some friends together or just have an evening in front of the fire but do something to ‘Make Life Special’.

January is off to a stormy start but there will be chances for winter walks and Sunday roasts, a trip to the pub or a gathering around the dining table; plan something as a group. How about choosing a country and making Sunday lunch from that cuisine, whoever is hosting can do the main course and others bring a starter and a dessert. (We used to do this each month with a group of friends years ago and it was fabulous fun!)

Choose something you want to do, not something you feel you should and in 2025 ‘Make Life Special’!

To all of you, my Ohana, I say Aloha, I wish you a wonderful year ahead and I hope you enjoy the gift it is!

 

Here’s a homemade hot chocolate recipe to start you off

The Law of the Aloha Spirit

 

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