Just to say...thanks

I'm really glad somebody decided to make this because it gives me the opportunity to say thanks for stuff I'm really grateful for but wouldn't know who to thank...

• My parents - it's hard to get the balance between parents who are way too strict, don't let you leave the house/ have a phone/ go out with your friends etc and parents who are too slack: who don't care what you do or where you go out. I think my parents have done a pretty amazing job so far at striking that balance and achieving good parent-dom. Also, I'm thankful that my parents are still together. There are advantages to having divorced families and a lot of families are way happier when the parents aren't living together: there's less arguments and the kid gets a bit more care and attention usually... but I'm at a stage in my life right now when I'm SO thankful to have both of my parents together, I just feel as if I'm a bit more whole. Yano?
• My friends - honest opinion? One of the key points, if not THE  key point to having a happy school life is a good, secure circle of friends, and I have that. There's nothing more I look forward to on the first morning back after the holidays than seeing them all again because they honestly make my life a whole lot of fun. I am changed by my friends, influenced by them and their opinions, but I think that one of the major ways they've impacted on my life, in particular my friend's Grace and Megan; it's their ability to help me discover myself a bit. They teach me so much and I know that I'm a better person because of them and the part they play in my life both at home and school, which brings me to my second point...
• My school - I bet hardly anyone is thankful for their school but honestly? I am SO thankful for everything they've done. While at primary school I learnt a lot about respect. Some experiences taught me the sort of respect needed in a school and some taught me that I treated people with way more respect than what I sometimes saw from both pupils and staff. By the end of my primary school years I also learnt a lot about what it means to grow up, to get older and move on. By year 6 I'd felt as if I'd outgrown the school, that I was ready to move on to something bigger...and that was a new experience for me. My high school also taught me a lot about growing up, but more so I became familiar more with my surroundings, and society. My school is really multi-cultural and I'm so glad of that. There's so many new people to meet, cultures I can learn about and new languages. I'm so thankful for my current school (my high school) for giving me the opportunity to prepare myself for future life and become a bit more aware of what lies beyond the gates of teenager-dom and into adulthood.
• Me - I know this will probably sound really self centred but I'm really thankful for me being me, and who I am. I could have been someone who didn't have the educational opportunities I am offered, or who was disabled and found life more difficult than me. I'm thankful beyond words for my brain, my hands, my face, my legs, my arms, my heart, every limb, organ, bone and muscle that makes me me! Because even though I am FAR from perfect and I would be the first to admit it (believe me) I wouldn't have the life I do if I wasn't me, so yeah, thanks for that.
• My life - lastly, and what I think is the most important thing, my life. Thanks a lovely bunch of coconuts to whoever (if anyone) plucked me out of the metaphorical ball of energy in the sky and gave me life. I guess to a certain extent I can thank my Mum and Dad for that but I'm going to thank the universe too. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to become me in the first place; for giving me the ultimate gift. Someone has just handed me a long (well I hope it's long) long long long ribbon of time and said "here, do what you want with it." I am so grateful to be given the chance at life so I can have all of these things to be thankful for. I'm not sure who I'm thanking but thanks anyway. x