It's a new year — a new decade. Finally. Waving goodbye to the gloriously painful 10 years that built me and welcoming this new age with open arms is refreshing.

Two years ago, I made a list of 10 goals I wanted to complete in 2018 — that list was never completed and I pushed those goals back to 2019 and I failed to complete them, AGAIN.

Going into 2020, I decided that I was going to make priorities instead of goals and resolutions. I was going to make a list of things that should come first and something that I know will eat me up if I don't make sure it happens.

Goals can be met, changed, or delayed — priorities can change, but they can never be delayed.

The top priority I made for this year was to appreciate being human.

I spent the entire last decade, putting others' needs and wants before mine. I was only a kid — I spent my whole teenage years worrying about doing something that would get me in trouble with my family. I should have realized that I'm human and being human doesn't equal perfection.

Being human doesn't mean that you're weak and it took me until December of last year to understand that. I realized that long ago, but I never connected the dots until then.

In the first part of 2019, I began to go through a rough patch mentally — I became unstable and I snapped on a lot of people. I acted without thinking of my actions — I was reckless. I realized that I didn't want to continue on that path because it was a dark and scary path that I didn't want to find myself stuck in, so I took the first steps and went to therapy.

Therapy wasn't a new concept to me, but I was out of practice. I hadn't sat down and cried to someone about my problems in a long time — I would hold them in and help others. I buried myself in my work and kept busy to avoid feeling things. But that ended last year. I wanted this year and beyond to be all about me and focusing on me and my mental health.

I encourage you, not just this year, but in the years that follow, to make priorities and maintain those priorities because it's OK to be selfish with yourself.