News from the Noteworthy by LEAF

Kindness: Considering A New Auld Lang Syne

If you were anywhere near a television or a social gathering on New Year’s Eve, you very likely heard “Auld Lang Syne.” Maybe you even sang along. Although we borrowed it from the Scots, is has become our traditional response to ringing in the new year. It is both a song of remembrance and of looking forward, taken from a folk song and poem of the 1700s. It is actually one of the oldest historical songs that is still sung by the general population.

Though there is no direct English translation of the phrase, “auld lang syne,” it roughly translates to “times long past” or “days gone by.” But, as we read forward in the poem, the phrase that really caught my attention this year was this: “We’ll take a cup of kindness, yet, for auld lang syne. And surely ye shall raise your glass and surely I’ll raise mine.”

The glass to be raised is a glass of kindness. Those few lines gave me pause and I needed to read it a few times. As I did, I realized what my hope would be for 2024. I love clinking glasses with a hearty “here, here!” over something that is agreed upon or worth celebrating (no alcohol required). I see people do it all the time and it makes me smile.

So, in our real lives, what does a glass of kindness look like? I think this traditional, old song visits us once a year and gives us an opportunity to reexamine that question. The truth of the matter is that at our next new year, today will be the auld lang syne. Today will be the days gone by. And at the next new year, we will have the opportunity to look back and see the times and the places that we raised a metaphorical glass of kindness.

This makes for an excellent and attainable new year’s resolution, with an interesting dynamic outlined in the song. Raising a cup of kindness, by its very nature, requires at least two people. We’re going through tough times as a culture, and self-kindness is important. Please continue to be kind to yourself. However, what we will look back on at the next auld lang syne is how well we connected with and brightened the lives other people.

For me, this kind of intentional kindness takes a bit of self-accountability. As a person in long-term recovery, my peers and I call that a “daily inventory.” It comes from Step 10 of the Twelve Step programs and it says, “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” Those can be words of wisdom for anyone. But, for our purposes of raising the cup, it can just be a kindness inventory.

What if everyone made a resolution to end their day with these three simple questions.

1) Was I kind to those I interacted with today?

2) Did I take the opportunity to uplift another person?

3) Is there anyone that offended me that I need to forgive?

Can you imagine what the new auld lang syne of 2025 would look like if we all raised a cup of kindness daily…while making it a point to forgive those who did not? Kindness and forgiveness are not new concepts, they are simply concepts that we humans need to relearn over and over. We don’t have to do it perfectly, but just imagine the world we would live in if we did it consistently.
Happy New Year, and may your next “Auld Lang Syne” be filled with memories of kindness.

Julie Dostal is the executive director of LEAF.