How to Start the New Year with Optimism
This post was sponsored by Frost Bank. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support HTC
I love the feelings that come with a new year (and new decade, right?) Those first few weeks of January are filled with hope for the things to come, motivation to make improvements in our lives, and anticipation for all the great things that await us. However, more often than not, after those first few weeks of January have passed, I tend to see a constant flow of “well, this year is off to a great start…not” type posts from friends and family on social media. And I’m not letting myself off the hook with this either because I also have been in that very same boat. In fact, on the 9th day of the new year, I found myself meeting my health deductible for a surgery to remove a nice mass from my body and a recovery that’s been much harder than I planned on. So, yeah, those warm, fuzzy new year feelings have been fleeting at most for me over here.
But I don’t want to find myself a month into 2020 with feelings of negativity and despair. I’ve actually made it my goal to be happier in this new year, no matter what trials come my way because I’m really tired of feeling sad. I took it as a sign from the Universe that I was on the right track when Frost Bank reached out and asked if I would like to participate in their Frost it Forward initiative this month. Frost is dedicated to not only help people have an optimistic outlook on their finances but also to have an optimistic outlook on life in general. They believe that optimism is a powerful tool that turns challenges into opportunities and can be a catalyst for better physical, emotional and financial health. Frost believes that a random act of kindness starts a ripple effect of generosity and optimism, which can improve your relationships, reduce stress, and make us happier people in general.
I know personally that my life has been greatly impacted for the better by acts of kindness and generosity by others, especially with my most recent health crisis and surgery. I came home from the hospital to flowers from friends and co-workers, I had meals brought to us by friends, and there has been a constant flow of cookies coming through my door for almost a week. It’s made a huge difference in my recovery, stress levels, and has brought me so much peace and helped me feel so loved during a really hard time.
Frost sent me a gift card a few weeks ago with the challenge to Frost It Forward and give back to those around me. It felt really special to be able to pay it forward to those in need of a smile or a small act of kindness and gave me something positive to focus on while working on recovering from my surgery. I wanted to be able to pay it forward to those who helped me during my surgery and also spread a little kindness to those going through a similar hard health time as I have been. Cancer scares are no joke. So, I decided to use my Frost It Forward gift card to order flowers for patients in the surgical wing at the hospital that I was treated at to hopefully bring a little joy to their days. I used the remaining money to send Starbucks hot cocoa to the nurses in the outpatient surgical wing who took care of me last week while I was having a hard time coming out of the anesthesia. It honestly felt so good to give back to the nurses who took care of me during a scary time and to know that I could make someone else who was having a hard recovery smile.
Starting the New Year off by giving back has honestly made a huge difference for me. Even though I personally have been dealing with a lot of tough things, being able to focus on others’ needs has made my own burdens easier to carry and has given me a sense of optimism for the new decade. If you are finding yourself feeling discouraged by how the New Year started for you and if you feel like things just aren’t going your way, I challenge you to take a step back from your own life and see what you can do to help others instead. Frost is here to help you with that with their Frost It Forward website. You can submit to them how you would like to spread optimism and kindness. Frost will choose people from the applications each month to receive their own gift card so that they can move forward with their plans to spread kindness, optimism, and joy.
How would you Frost It Forward this year? Let Frost know here!
