As the year comes to a close, we all reflect on the good times and the bad times that came along with it. The goal is always to take the lessons we learned from the passing year, and apply them to the years to come. This year has taught me many things that I am thankful for, and has grown me into the kind of person I want to be. I still have a lot to learn, but I want to give a shout out to 2015 for kicking my butt into gear. If not for you I would still be stuck in trivial matters and living an empty life. So thanks 2015, it’s been fun.
1. Follow Your Heart
Following your heart should be your first priority, not doing what everyone expects you to. This life is yours, no one else’s. If you want to do something, then do it. If you don’t want to do something, then don’t. If you love someone, love them. It is as simple as that. I have spent far too many years worrying about what everyone else thinks, and making sure I am always politically correct. This year has taught me to throw caution to the wind and do what makes me happy. People are going to judge and hate you no matter what you do, so let them hate you for things you love.
2. Change is Okay
Friends and relationships will come and go. Your goals for your life will evolve as you do, and that is perfectly fine, in fact it’s great! Nothing in life is set in stone, and things change in the blink of an eye. If you become immovably set in your ways then you are missing out on all life has to offer. This year has taught me to embrace the unexpected, and to learn from it.
3. Take Risks
This has been the year of pushing the comfort zone. I have been challenged each and every day to try new things, contemplate new ideas, and make “fly by the seat of my pants” decisions. It has been different from any other year before, but the simplicity of taking risks has made this year by far the best. Until now I was comfortable in my cautious lifestyle, never straying from routine. However, 2015 showed me how much time I have wasted. This year I have tried foods, talked to people, and taken opportunities that I would never have given a second thought to before. I learned that it is okay to open yourself up, and tell people how you feel. I have learned that in moments everyone else is silent, it is okay to speak. I have learned that life is not a spectator sport. It is a verb to be lived, not to be observed from the sidelines. The year of risk has changed my outlook on life forever, and I will never go back to my old ways. I vow to take advantage of every opportunity placed in my path for the rest of my life.
4. Mistakes Are Okay
I have messed up a lot this year. I have been too critical, I have been silent when I should have spoken, and I have been quick to assume. Because of these things, I have pushed people, and chances, away. I have missed out on things that could have made me better, but I learned that that’s ok. Messing up is a part of life, and it can only hurt you if you don’t learn from it. Sometimes, things that at first seem like detrimental mishaps, are really blessings in disguise. Closed doors always open new ones, but you have to learn to take the new paths provided.
5. Learn to Laugh
Through all of the chaos, the ups and the downs, it is easy to feel defeated. This year sure threw a lot of punches, and I got hit a lot. There were times I felt hopeless, like I could never win. Yet over time, battle after battle, I proved myself wrong. I am stronger than anything life throws at me. I was kicked while I was down, but in 2015 I learned to smile through the pain. I learned to laugh. Laugh in the face of adversity, laugh at all of my goofs, and to laugh in a way that most have forgotten how to, genuinely. We hear it all the time that life is too short to take everything seriously, but this year has proven it true. Days fly by in moments, and heartaches heal with time. If everything always turns out the way it is meant to in the end, then what is the point of worrying? I learned to shrug off the small stuff, and find joy in the things that make me happy; to laugh at the things that make my heart smile, regardless of if I am the only one laughing.
