So as 2015 drew to a close and I was planning what I wanted to do to celebrate 2015 and bring in the New Year I started Pinterest-ing New Year’s Eve ideas. What I found were memory jars and this was the beginning of my inspiration for my 2016 New Year’s Resolution. Now this was my new years resolution but it is something that you can start at any time of the year, and if you love my little story to come I strongly recommend you go out today and start your own memory jar!

But back to my story. The idea of a memory jar is that you get a jar and all through the year whenever something good happens, whenever you do something that makes you happy, you have a good day, you get a compliment from a stranger – whatever positive thing it is, you write it down on a little piece of paper and you put it into the jar. Then on New Year’s Eve you empty out the jar and read all the great things that happened to you that year.

I thought this was a brilliant idea, I had been feeling 2015 was not my year that is had been pretty average but when I sat down and really thought about it I realised 2015 had been a great year. I had lost 25kg (now its 32kg!), I had moved into my first apartment all on my own, I had gone on an amazing holiday, went to a friend’s wedding in Singapore, decided I was going to move to Ireland, had almost finished paying off my 5 year loan (I ended up paying it off in 5 months! Yay!), and they were just the things I could think of off the top of my head. Imagine if I actually took the time and wrote down the positive things that happened in my day to day life that made me happy.

So that was it, I was making a Memory Jar. I decided I wasn’t just going to make a memory jar though for me, I decided to make it for three of my friends as well to help them see all the amazing things that happen in their life each year too. So I went to the store and brought the beautiful jars you see here.

While I was standing in the cue waiting to pay for the jars I was flicking through the local free city magazine and saw the 2016 yearly horoscopes. I read mine and liked what it said so I grabbed the magazine and decided I would cut out the horoscopes for each person and put them in the jar as well. Then on the way home I was thinking about it a bit more and decided that I would also add a note to each memory jar with a positive message to each of my friends and in my own jar saying what I hoped they would (and I would) achieve in the coming year.

I went home and I put the name cards on each of the jars for each of my friends and had them ready to give to them on New Year’s Eve. The jars so far have been a real success for myself and most of my friends – one of my friends was overseas for New Years and will only be finding out about her memory jar as she is reading this post so she will be starting it a little late, but I am sure she will have so many things to put in it from her adventures this year already!

With my big move to Ireland at the beginning of March I have had a lot to put into my jar already this year. From my last sunset sail with Momo and the crew from Unhinged before leaving Townsville, hiking through the Blue Mountains with my best friend, to getting my first job in Ireland, writing my first blog, making my first new friend… all of these have been included into my memory jar. The jar also has served as a reminder on my harder days that I have had so many good things happen in my life this year that I do have so much to be grateful for, and you can’t have a rose garden without a little rain sometimes.

So go empty out that pickle jar (pickles are yucky anyway), wash it out and start writing down those little things each day or each week that bring a smile to your face, write about that new person you meet, the fun thing you did on the weekend, or that promotion you just got at work. Just write down all that positive stuff that is happening in your life every day that you take for granted, and come December 31^st we will see just what amazing and lucky lives we get to live.