The winter months often come with their own difficulties and challenges to pile on top of what life has already been throwing our way. There is much that can bring us down when the nights are long and the days cold, but during the festive time we can take time to reflect and be thankful for what can keep our hearts warm and light the path into the new year. Gratitude can far too often be drowned out by the pressures of modern life, always driving us to want more, earn more, do more and own more. When in truth we often already have so much to be thankful for and miss out on feeling content when encouraged never to be satisfied.

With this in mind I wanted to take a short while to look back on this year which will soon fade and remind myself of warm memories, achievements, experiences and all that keeps me strong and smiling. To say thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way, made me laugh and cry, taught and encouraged me, taken the time to reach out and spent time with me. The pandemic and global pressures might have strove to drive us apart and leave us exhausted, but this just adds weight and importance to the time we do manage for each other and get to share.

There are so many of you I wanted to see this year, so many messages I didn’t send, calls I didn’t make, events I couldn’t attend and games I couldn’t play, but even if our paths barely crossed you have not left my thoughts or my heart. Each and every one of you are amazing, incredible and you should be proud of yourselves, I only hope that the future grants us more share time together. I am grateful for what we have shared and thankful for what you enabled me to see, do and think. Be it a day in each other’s company, an invite to an event, an amusing chat, a shared story, image or video, or a simple shared snippet of your life to let the world know how you are doing, thank you for making this world a richer, brighter and more interesting place.

I am so thankful for what I have, what I achieved and all of those around me who made this possible. Be you family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, or the online community that make this mad world of ours simply bursting at the seams with interesting, comforting and delightful stuff, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart and I only wish I had enough time to see and experience every part of it with you all. What I have gotten to enjoy and share in is a true delight and again thank you for making that possible, simply by being you, striving for what you believe in and working to enrich the lives of those around you and even those you might never know.

I think if I don’t actively stop myself I will waffle on until the New Year and you are all busy enough as it is so I will wrap up now, but again thank you. Each and every one of you who know me, who have coloured my life in some way and continue to be a part of it when fate allows our times to cross. Know that I am thankful for you, grateful we have met and wish you all the very best now, and for the future to come. Be merry when you can, be kind when you can and be yourself always. I wish you all a very happy Christmas, a spectacular new year and all the best wishes I can muster for the days to come. Thank you all for filling my cup to the brim and please if you get the time, just take a little time to remember what helped you smile this year, what is keeping you warm and comfortable and be thankful for what we have.

Best wishes everyone, stay safe and thank you for helping me smile.
Umi x