This year has been quite a doozy. Where do I even start?

I keep seeing memes and posts all over social media joking about how we should just forget 2016 or we should postpone 2017 or that the meteor that was suppose to end the world back in 2012 can hit us now.

Looking back at the entire year, month by month, it seemed like it went by so fast. So much stuff, whether it was good or bad, was all just jam-packed into this year.

As for me, on a personal level, the majority of this year was pretty darn crappy. I had a few happy things happen and I'm still alive and kicking but I think the crappy stuff outweighed the happy which makes me vigorously nod my head in agreement with those online memes saying we should just erase 2016 from history.

I experienced a lot of health issues, both physically and mentally, due to graduating from college. It started at the end of April and dragged itself all the way until right now in December. Of course, I made a lot of progress through numerous doctor and therapist visits and I'm nowhere near where I was at my worst, but I'm still dealing with some problems. I missed an entire summer at the beach with my family, I didn't have my graduation party, I had to quit all my jobs, I missed senior week with my friends, and I just had a really tough time dealing with my mind and body.

However, on the flip side, this year I attended my first ever k-pop concert and saw my absolute favorite group live, I graduated college (even though that's what started my troubles), I got to attend my second year at Awakening Conference, I finally got to visit Salem, Massachusetts near Halloween time, and ultimately I learned a lot about myself and my capabilities and learned to not care about what anyone thinks of me.

Of course I didn't want all the bad stuff to happen to me and for a long time I really didn't think there was a light at the end of the tunnel. However, now that I'm where I'm at, I'm glad I went through what I did even if it's just to help someone else with the same problems or to understand these issues better and also be able to take a step back and look at my life now and where I want to go in the future. I guess I just needed a breather from life and my body unfortunately took that to the extreme.

I ended up realizing that you can take some time off from school or work and be OK. I realized that it's OK to take some time for yourself and get your mind in order. It's OK to take a year or two off from looking for a job or going back to school and maybe take a little well deserved trip somewhere. I've learned that the body and mind are very fragile things, but if we're lucky, we have so many years on this earth. If you really zoom out and think about it — I'm 23 years old, so I have plenty of time to do the things that I want to do in life and I have time to be able to get my health back on track and at a comfortable level.

It's OK to take a break.

For anyone who is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, take a couple steps back and breathe. The end of the year is a great excuse to reflect and get things in order and realize you might need a break or even some help.

So as the year comes to an end, my hopes are decently high for 2017. I pray for everything good to come to those who need it and deserve it and I pray that this new year will be a year that 2016 envies.

Happy New Year everybody!