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From Rabbi Pete Tobias of the Liberal Synagogue, Elstree:

Well Richard it’s the second day of 2014. ÌýThere’s something a little bleak about Day two of a New Year – January 1st feels like the morning after the night before, or just a continuation of it. But the second lets you know that it’s here to stay…

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Sorry if that sounds miserable. It’s not my intention – on the contrary, I want to paint a very different perspective on the New Year that’s just started. I’m reminded of a piece written by English author Arnold Bennett which is quoted in the Liberal Jewish prayerbook:

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‘The supply of time is a daily miracle. You wake up in the morning and lo! Your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of life. It is yours! The most precious of your possessions.’

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Well the first twenty-four hours or so of this year have gone, but there are still more than 8,700 still to go. That may seem a little daunting for those who’ve perhaps set themselves an unreasonable list of resolutions. But I like to look at the coming days, weeks and months as an opportunity, rather than a difficult challenge.

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I was struck by a story I read recently on Twitter. A couple in a supermarket were asked by the young man serving them if they had enjoyed Christmas. They replied that it had rather passed them by as their daughter had died ten weeks earlier. A few minutes later, while they were still in the shop, the couple were presented by the young employee with a bunch of flowers on behalf of the supermarket.

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Every day there are opportunities for little acts of kindness, smiles, words or gestures that can change the lives of others – however briefly. So rather than making unachievable New Year resolutions like giving up chocolate or not getting upset when Watford lose, my aim for the coming year is to take as many of those opportunities as I can to bring a little more kindness into our world.