"Don't give up now, chances are your best kiss, your hardest laugh and your greatest day are yet to come."
— Atticus

Perhaps last year left you with more life, more happiness and more joy than you ever thought possible. Or maybe last year was not as kind to you. Leaving you with disappointment, missed opportunities or simply not much at all. Regardless of how last year or years prior have treated you, I ask that you don't lose heart.

In fact, I challenge you to try something new this year.

Reinvent yourself. Dye your hair, chop it off, travel somewhere new, or simply adjust your lifestyle to better suit your wandering heart.

New Years is the time we all cling to the sense of hope and new opportunity, but it quickly fades to the back burner by the end of January. Redundancies of life weighing us down as we battle traffic jams, neverending bills, 8 a.m classes or 6 a.m workouts before work; inevitably making us forget the excitement we once felt to witness a new year. How it came into the horizon, bringing with it everything we believed in until we ultimately forgot it was even there.

I challenge you to cling to that first sense of joy long after the New Year has started.

In fact, I challenge you to find more joy in everything and anything that you do this year. Joy in the fact that you woke up this morning, that your car started, that there is still hope for a better tomorrow. Find joy in your ability to cast out any and all negativity in your life and instead find happiness in the simplest of life's treasures.

Whatever mountain you are climbing, whether large or small in the face of your prior adversities, I hope you never stop reaching for more. Sure, you may have to stop to catch your breath or recharge before you keep climbing, but I ask that when opportunity knocks at your front door, you clutch the knob tightly and open on up regardless of the doubt that may try to weigh you down.

I challenge you to show up.

To apply for that internship, job or promotion regardless of how likely you think you are to get it. Don't let fear hold you back from daring to ask the universe for what you truly want. Ask your crush out for coffee or drinks, invite the potential friend over for dinner, or simply introduce yourself.

You may be considering the idea of going out, but don't want to put aside studying, don't know what to wear or maybe you really don't have a reason other than fear. Don't let fear dictate what you do in this life.

Take it from me, the girl who almost canceled one of the most influential nights of her life. The night that ultimately led to many more nights with someone I never expected to impact me and instill confidence back into me. A night that almost didn't happen and all it required was the conscious decision to show up.

So show up anyway regardless of fear. Because when you do, again and again without worry of who will judge, without calculated next words or jokes, that is when you become alive. That is when you become who you were destined to be.

Chances are, you have a lot more life to live, more mistakes to learn from and more opportunities to find. So as your January comes to a close and we embark on the second month of the year, I challenge you not to lose hope but instead find joy in the realization that you still have 11 months left. 11 months to show up to more coffee dates, more parties, more meetings, more interviews or witness more sunsets and sunrises than you thought possible.

I challenge you to make this year your year of opportunity.

The year you cling longer to that sense of newness and sense of self. Make this the year you choose to show up to any and all things not because you have to, but because you want to. Because you are hopeful, but most importantly because you might just be glad you did.