As you tune in to watch the ball drop in New York, and you prepare your New Year’s Eve traditions like the cider drinking or grape eating, the room grows louder with anticipation! As midnight hits, the room comes together and shares a bunch of empty promises that will most likely not even happen. “I’ll lose so much weight!” says your aunt, “But I’ll start tomorrow.” Year after year, people neglect their resolutions, but I have a resolution that isn’t too hard to do, and if you do it, life becomes so much easier. Every day, remind someone, anyone really, how much they mean to you because you never know when someone might need a reminder.

Everyone has a story, so everyone has their complications. We never truly know what someone is going through, but that isn’t an excuse to not show appreciation, especially during the holidays! The people you see every day, from the classmates you briefly see walking to their class to your best friends, they all impact your environment. And while you can’t go up to each and every person, make the effort to remind at least your own friend group.

And maybe you’ve already read this a thousand times, but I find the people who get sick of reading it are usually the ones to not do it. Words matter, and with the recent turn of events in the world, it is important that we promote positivity. With the rise of pessimism and depression in teens, you might feel like your words don’t matter or won’t make a difference, but trust me, they will. Positivity isn’t usually going to solve huge problems, but it certainly drives the solution and it gives hope.

So as the glasses are raised, and you head into the year with your hopes held high, assure the people you love that they truly have a place in this world. Life can get difficult, and when it does, it messes with our sense of self-worth. And if you’re the one who is in need of a reminder, I’m sure that if you take the time to remind your loved ones that they matter and share some love, they will return the favor.