If you are anything like me, you may feel that 2016 was one of the toughest years in a long, long time. We had natural disasters, man-made disasters, lots of hate-fueled tragedies, and an election words cannot describe (also, velvet made a comeback and it just makes my skin crawl). Personally, I cannot wait for 2017 to arrive and hopefully give everyone a renewed sense of energy, kindness, and love. I was reflecting on this past year and what I hope to see change when I stumbled upon this Kid President video:

Kid President is one of my favorite people. He is so encouraging and sends deep, meaningful messages in a span of 2-3 minutes. He's also adorable (but can we take a moment to acknowledge that he is growing up and his voice is getting deeper, which is hard to believe?). There were lots of lines in this video that struck me as important.

"Wouldn't it be cool if we could just all be cool?"

Really, the world could use a little bit of a collective deep breathing exercise. We have created this fast-paced society for ourselves and expect instant gratification, but if we all would stop and do some Equal Breathing to relax our nervous systems, we may find ourselves more laid back and cool.

"Throw kindness around like confetti! ...kindness is less messy"

Full disclosure: I love confetti. So anytime I see an analogy to confetti, I pretty much automatically love it. But think about it - confetti is typically used at a celebration (birthday, graduation, wedding, etc.). It has a positive association for most people. As does kindness. Share the love, be kind to each other, and spend more time worried about that than about the negative.

"Don't judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. Also, don't steal shoes; borrow them. Then return them. Then be friends"

The depth to this statement blows my mind a little bit. Don't assume you know anything about what someone is going through. But even if you did walk a mile in their shoes, your experience would still be different because you are a different person. So you may, metaphorically speaking, borrow someone's shoes - meaning you attempt to see the world through their eyes from an empathic view. But you do not take their baggage on for yourself. You continue to express empathy and compassion.

"There are over 2 billion people in the world under the age of 20...what if every one of them knew someone who believed in them?"

This one got me more than any of the above quotes. What if every young person had someone older than them who truly, wholeheartedly believed in them? Can you just imagine the impact? I remember growing up and having my parents, other relatives, parents' friends and members of the church I attended who truly believed in me and what I can offer this world. It makes such a difference to feel this way.

The invitation: as you think about 2017 and maybe a New Years Resolution, I invite you to think about who you know under the age of 20 who could use a little extra support. Believe in them and encourage them.
If you are under age 20, think about who in your circle of influence you could confide in to receive that kind of support. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask for it! You could offer them a gift bigger than you could imagine by asking them to be on your team. It shows you trust them and their opinion matters to you. What an honor.