I'm a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, that the things that are meant to be will eventually work themselves out. I'm not religious, but I do believe in a higher power — thought I'm not sure what it is — and I think that, even though we may not see why certain things happen, it becomes apparent along the way.

2016 has been a long year. It had some of the best — and worst — moments of my life. 2016 was the year I met some of my closest friends, the year I landed a kick-ass job with Odyssey, the year I learned how I deserved to be treated, and the year I got engaged. But it was also the year that I had to make some of the hardest choices I've ever had to make, and I'm still trying to convince myself I did the right thing.

I lost a couple people through the course of 2016, but for once, I'm not sad about it. Even though I'm a rather empathetic creature and cutting people out is hard for me to do, I don't regret it. I believe that everyone is meant to play a certain role in the lives they touch, and sometimes you can't see that role until you're time with them is up.

I know this is all super vague, but bear with me. Look at where you are right now, at this moment. What has happened this year? Who's still in your life? Who's gone? Who's new? Can you piece any of it together to make sense of why those people needed to leave and why the new ones came?

I can. This was the year, for me, that I fully got to discover my self-worth. I finally realized what it felt like to feel used, to feel unappreciated. And that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't decided to change who was in my life. Since high school, I've had a knack for surrounding myself with people who were harmful and toxic to the way I viewed myself and the things I loved.

This was the year I learned that I didn't deserve to be controlled. 2016 gave me my independence back.

When I look back on all of the things that led up to that tipping point, I think about how horrible it felt when they happened. But in the end, they all connected. They had to happen so that I could learn to value myself and to be selective about how I choose to let close to me. Not everyone (especially not empaths) knows how to do that — some people have to experience it.

And now that we've reached the end, I can't think of another place I'd want to be. I'm engaged to the love of my life. I've got two amazing jobs that both further my future career. I'm surrounded by the people that I love and the people that love me. For all the shit 2016 caused, I'm not sad to see it go.

But I'll never be sad about where it put me.