It's been a week into the new year, and I think it's high time to do some reflection on these last 365 (actually 366 because of the leap year!) days. There have been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, not only for myself but for the world as well. Let's see what I've learned about all this:
1. Try new things and don't be scared or ashamed to do it! 2016 was my first year of competitive dancing, and I had no idea how I would feel about it. Turns out, it was one of the greatest decisions of my life, and I had more fun that I'd ever expected--from the backstage jitters to actually dancing my heart out on stage every weekend.
2. It's really amazing to see your hard work pay off. I did track and field in the spring of 2016, and I went in without expecting much. Just by doing all the workouts, runs, recovery days, I had improved more than I would have expected over the course of the season.
3. Friends and family over everything. I cannot count how many times I've felt extreme love to and from my friends and family. I really can't thank these people enough.
4. Always say yes to spontaneous adventures. Maybe it's running around crowded cities in China. Maybe it's going on a family pilgrimage across the country with a two hour notice in advance. Maybe it's running in the rain, or snow. Say yes.
5. There is so much to my family that I have never known. I've learned so much about my heritage and its richness this summer in China. I've met so many family members I've never even heard of before. I've experienced such closeness and warmth with these people I call home.
6. Love to learn. Seriously, it makes school so much more fun if you love to learn. You don't even have to love what you're learning--just love the act of learning.
7. But more importantly, love to love people.
8. And know that even if that love isn't reciprocated back to you, it's still okay to just love to love people. You have enough people loving you that you don't need to be validated by everyone you love. It's enough to just enjoy loving someone.
9. Rebuild relationships with people you may have lost connection to in the past. It's great to just rekindle an old friendship.
10. Never say no to helping people. Seriously, helping people is one of the best feelings in the world. The best experiences and memories come from helping other people get better experiences and make better memories.
11. But make time for yourself too. Take care of yourself.
12. Always listen with an open mind. Really, even if you don't agree with something, you can still listen to an opinion being stated. It doesn't take much to sit there and listen.
13. If you can make the world a better place by putting in just a tiny bit of effort, why wouldn't you do it? For example, recycle. Literally, it does not require a huge amount of effort to walk to a recycling bin and drop off some papers or an empty plastic bottle.
14. Take nature walks. Be connected to this world.
15. Don't let the little things get you down. It'll all work out in the end.
16. Care. Care about things. Care about people. Care about what's going on in the world. Don't be apathetic.
