New Year's Thoughts

With the end of this year, and the beginning of a new year arriving I was reflecting about the year and all that has happened (and with two trips to California I have had a lot of Nevada desert time to think).  What a year it has been!  It started with me attending BYU, for all of about three days before I stumbled upon an amazing internship opportunity in Washington DC with the LDS Church Office of Public and International Affairs.  Despite the seeming bad timing it felt right, so I applied and was offered the position, and so I sold my apartment contract and dropped out of classes to move across the country in less than a week.  But what an experience.  I loved working for the Church knowing that even in small ways I was helping people come into contact with Christ's message of love and peace.  Imagine what could happen if all the world lived the principles of love and charity, but more on that later.  It was also a wonderful experience living with my sister and her family before they moved.  It is a pretty neat experience to room with your niece and nephews, although they do occasionally wake you up early.  In addition to all of this, I met so many great people and made so many great friends and was able to see so much of the amazing city that it was all so very worth it.

Then, as if I wasn't lucky enough, I was offered another internship opportunity in Edinburgh working with Scottish Parliament.  It was a wonderful work experience, after all it isn't everyday you get to work in the office of a European parliamentarian.  I also made some of the most amazing friends there in the other interns, as well as other members of the ward in Edinburgh. I was also able to travel, and see different people and cultures throughout Scotland, as well as Albania and Poland.  It truly was a life changing experience, one that I am forever grateful for.

Then I finally returned to Utah, which is a little anti-climatic but also a good time.  I just graduated from BYU, I have seen old friends and gained new friendships.  And at the end of the year I can say that it has been a good year.  It has come with its share of struggles and pain, but in the end that is part of what makes life so sweet.  And the good times have far outweighed the bad, so I have everything to be grateful for.

And now, in comes a new year with immense possibilities.  I am waiting to hear from a job that could take me anywhere across the US, I am applying to grad school in international studies, and who even knows what other opportunities might arise?  And that is such an exciting thing.  At this time last year, this year looked like a pretty ho-hum year, but it wasn't, and I have a feeling that this one isn't going to be either.  So, I am looking forward to it.

The final thing that I wished to talk about briefly is a goal of mine.  I have made a number of goals for this year to improve on, and one in particular that I wanted to briefly discuss.  My goal is to become a kinder and more loving person.  I have really felt the need for this over the last few months, because as I have learned about history and society, the pain and suffering of so many becomes more and more apparent.  And I may not have the power to change everything, I can't solve famines in Africa, or wars in Israel.  But maybe, just maybe, I can be a friend to someone who is lonely in my ward.  Maybe I can cheer someone's day up even with just a smile.  That I can do.  That we can all do.  We can all look a little harder for opportunities to be kind.  We can all try a little harder not to judge, or to be kinder in our words.  I can all try a little harder to make this world better and kinder and more loving, so that is one thing that I want my 2012 to look like.