Hi friends. So, it’s 1st January 2017 and so I just wanted to say a few things. I mean, I don't want to jinx anything by saying 'happy new year' but what I do want to do is speak to you about the year ahead and tell you all the things I want from this year for us all.
I want you to know is that I want the New Year to be filled with things that set your heart on fire. I want it to be filled with the people you love, the things you love, the music you love, the movies you love, the food you love, the things that give you purpose. May the coming twelve months bring you nothing but fortune and may the good times far outweigh the bad. May the inevitable difficult times of pain, loss and defeat only provide you with the strength you need to be the best version of yourself. May the happy times give you the courage to keep pushing on through the bad and may they remind you that there is always a way out. When you encounter hardships, may you be able to take your mind off of them for a second or two in order to remember that they don't last forever. Each experience, each moment, each emotion we feel, they are all temporary, which we often forget, and so may you remember that bad times don't last forever, this year, but just as bad times end, good times do too. So keep them close to your heart and truly relish in them whilst they're happening. And live in them. Sure, take a photo or two, photos are wonderful, but don't forget to soak in every second of every beautiful experience you get, in person. That way, looking back on the photos you have taken of it will be even more special and the snaps shall mean more. Don't live your life on Snapchat. Don’t Tweet your year away, the films on Netflix will still be there tomorrow. It’s important to enjoy the modern age in which we live but also it’s important to remember what's around us and that we can live our lives without WIFI. Besides, what are you going to Tweet about if you don't actually go outside and do things worth Tweeting about?

May you make many mistakes this year. Many crazy, stupid, messy, amazingly beautiful mistakes. And may you not have to apologise for them. Because life isn't perfect, people aren't perfect. People get things wrong and our mistakes only make us better as a whole. Never allow anyone to make you feel guilty for taking a wrong turn, saying the wrong thing, trusting the wrong person or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without mistakes, life would be pointless. May you learn from your errors and may they light the path you need to follow in order to radiate as much positivity as possible.

May you carry all 2016 has taught you into the next and, rather than looking back on the year in regret or sadness, look back on it positively as, no matter how terrible it may have seemed, it was filled with lessons and it helped each of us recognise what needs to be done in order to make the world a better place. I am glad that, in 2016, the world woke up and finally opened their eyes to mistreatment and injustices across the world. Now that we have knowledge of this monstrous behaviour, may we use it to fix our problems. We are aware of so much of what's going on around us so may we not turn a blind eye to it once more and may we unite and work and work and work and work until our planet is a safe place for all. There are sure to be tragedies and disasters this year and things are bound to turn on their heads a few times in the world of politics. People are going to die, people shall be murdered, tortured, starved, abused, hurt in ways we could not imagine, but it is important that we speak out about their situations and that we continue to use our newly found voices to express the suffering of those who are not blessed with such a voice themselves. Because of the fortunate position we are in, we have a duty to protect those who are unable to protect themselves, whether you want to accept that or not. It is not just all about donating money and flashing the cash. It’s about having a heart and sincerely hoping to make a difference. Use your social platforms to raise awareness. Talk to people about what's going on. No one person can change the world alone. No one person can end world hunger and suffering by themselves but seven billion human beings standing together to fight what is right are a force to be reckoned with and are more powerful than any of us realise.

In 2017, you are sure to have many opportunities and may you give all you have into all you do. Pour your entire soul into every single thing as you won't get the chance to experience them in the same way again because, like I say, all is temporary. Also, pour your entire soul into every person surrounding you as you never know when they may be taken from you, which is a lesson we should have all learnt in 2016. Listen to people's stories, laugh at their jokes even when they aren't funny, tell people that you're glad they exist. Tell people you love them to their face rather than just telling the world on Facebook.

This year, may you cry with laughter, create memories to last a lifetime, learn a lot from people who know things you don't, feel loved and give a lot of love out. Love others and love yourself. Think of others and think of yourself. Be strong for others and strong for yourself. Embrace who you are and embrace who others are. Accept yourself and accept others. Be completely comfortable with who you are and just fall in LOVE with being alive. Please. Just do you. Don’t listen to the small minded opinions of people who are still stuck in the past. Advance forwards with the people who are open and understanding of the fact that nothing is black and white anymore. Although, at the same time, pray for the ignorant and pray for them to see the light. And talk to them. Educate them. Make them see that the world is a beautiful place because of how diverse it is. Encourage them to love every race, every religion, every sexuality, and talk to them as your equal, not as if they are inferior. There is no hierarchy between human beings. And how are we supposed to truly connect with people and solve issues if we do not understand one another and if we cannot even be civil?

In 2017, have a hopeful heart but be open to the idea of things not going according to plan. Use curve-balls as motivation. Appreciate everything given to you and cherish the nature you have the pleasure of being surrounded by. There is art in tiny things, art in simplicity. Go explore it. Touch things, taste them, smell them, and love things that you once thought were unlovable. Don't complain about trivial things like the rain or the snow or the fact that your bus was ten minutes late. Let things go and understand that the universe gives us things for a reason. We may not always know what that reason is, however, we may not always need to. The universe is so much greater than all of us combined, so much more powerful and magical than anything we will ever experience. It has a plan for us all and, sometimes, we just need to let go of rules, structure and plans and just allow things to happen as they happen.

You deserve nothing but happiness and you should remind yourself of this constantly. You deserve to achieve your dreams and if you work for them, they shall come true. If things don't go your way all the time, don't worry. The things our hearts desire and the people we crave always find their way to us, sometimes, just in different forms. It may take a while for you to get where you want to be but how will you get anywhere if you don't believe you will get there? That would be like telling yourself you're going to drive to London, getting in the car but not turning on the engine. You need to fuel your imagination and tell yourself that dreams can be exist outside of your head. There is proof of this in all the happy, successful people around you.

Just know that this year, it is GOING to be okay. Yeah? I promise you, it’s all going to be fine. Just breathe. Take it in. You're doing fine and you're going to do even better in 2017. Let us all do everything in our power to create peace this year and may we not fight fire with fire or respond to wars with wars. May we not use childish means of retaliation and may we be aware of the possible ramifications of every act before we carry it out. Let us listen to one another as we remember we are all brothers and sisters. We are all equals regardless of any personality trait of physical attribute we may possess. May we work on ourselves and our goals at the same time as working on our relationship with one another. May we stop being so concerned with the lives of other people but, simultaneously, may we be there to offer a helping hand if necessary. May we all put ourselves, our happiness and our mental health before everything else but we may we also support our neighbours in their times of need.

I pray for our world to begin healing more so now than ever. Let us create the beautiful life we all want deeply. There is no reason why utopia should only be a vision of our imaginations. We shouldn't convince ourselves that perfect worlds only exist in fiction. If we all do right by each other at the same time as recognising where we have gone wrong and accepting that we need to make changes to move forward, we can all live a good life. We don't all need to be billionaires or celebrities, we just need love in our hearts, good intentions and a little bit of optimism.

To those who are no longer with us, we keep you in our hearts and you shape everything that we are about to go on to do. You have impacted our lives and we want to still feel your presence as we go on to achieve great things. You leave wonderful legacies behind and we want to carry on the work you started, no matter how big or small the task.

To all of you, happy 2017. I challenge you to do something that terrifies you because how many 2017s are you going to experience in your lifetime? A new year is here and it has its arms wide open to welcome anyone who wishes to enter it. It’s a new start. For us all. Do something crazy with it. You deserve so much joy and success. Let this be the year of self-love, raising awareness, acceptance, laughter, opening new doors but not forgetting the reasons why we had to close them in the first place. Let this be the year of friendship, health, prosperity, peace and just generally being a little bit nicer to one another. So, raise your iPhones and laptops to what is set to be a fantastic year....if you don't believe it’s going to be a fantastic year, it won't be.