It might be the pessimist inside me, or it might be that I've always had a thing for never finishing what I started, but either way, I hate the beginning of January. I hate to come to terms with all of the things I never checked off of my list. I technically set myself up for failure each year when I make a resolutions list longer than the list of Netflix shows I have binged watched.

I love to watch people brag over their to-do lists of the year on Facebook, the social media site that has turned into the workplace water cooler. It has people listing off their best traits while sweeping their actual life under the door into the break room. Some people traveled to a new place, a good majority have gotten engaged and married within a year of dating that person, and some have bought a house that they definitely can't afford.

As I was trying to find ways to pursue my resolution list this year that started with "Join the Peace Corps" and was followed closely behind with "Figure out if journalism is even associated with the Peace Corps," I stumbled upon a quote. "Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”

Maybe I never overcame my fears of the future or my fears of clowns because it's my vulnerability that makes me strong. Maybe I didn't get that awesome internship I wanted because I'm going to learn more where I am at right now. Maybe I didn't learn a new hobby because as much as I would like to think I have mastered photography, I definitely haven't. Maybe I didn't make new friends because I was too busy connecting bonds deeper with my old friends. Maybe I am still single because I'm not done figuring out who I am inside; or maybe I'm still single because he isn't done figuring out who he is inside. Who cares, really?

I'm quickly realizing that I am learning more from the resolutions I don't check off of my list and less from the ones I do complete. I grow to love myself more and more each year. I can't wait to sit down and write a long lists of hopeful thoughts and goals for the year, but better yet, I can't wait to look at last year as a year of a bountiful amount of growth.

Here's to 2016 being a year of hopeful goals and even more things that will never be checked off my list! I should probably check more into the Peace Corps before I get ahead of myself.