It's easier said than done to "be yourself". I am 22 years old and I am still struggling to find out what that means to me. Most of the time I am held down by so many responsibilities that I don't know who I am anymore. It's hard when you're busy with all these things you have to do.

So this year I am focusing on what I want to do.

The past few months have been a blur. So much homework and stress about things that make me feel nothing. It's easy to get lost in the swirl and lose yourself in the process. It's time for me to focus more on hobbies and spending time with the people that make life worth living.

I am still going to do well in school. I am just no longer letting it bring me down. I want to be happy and stressing out about school work is not going to get me there.

I like to picture myself as an old woman sometimes. Laying there, with no more life to live and I know in that moment I don't want any regrets or to ache that I slept through my life. I want to be able to rest in peace knowing I did everything I dreamed of.

More than I am proud of, I find myself wasting my life by just waiting. Waiting for the weekend or just daydreaming of my future. It's so important to realize that all we have is right now.

This moment that you are reading, this is all that exists and that is true. The past is gone and the next hour is never promised. I really think that learning to live in the moment is the key to happiness.

Anxiety lives in anticipation, so the more you worry about the future or get sad about something that is forgotten, the more you are throwing away this moment. A moment where you could have been doing something that makes you happy.

It's okay if you are going through a hard time or if you don't know exactly who you are yet. Half of the fun is discovering who you are. It doesn't happen overnight.

Just trust yourself and picture the person you want to be. There is always time to change and make that person come alive.

I want to live and that might sound like an easy thing to do, but it's not that simple for everyone. Sometimes I wonder why it is so much easier to be sad or anxious than it is to be happy, but I think that is just where we get to show our strength.

I am excited for a year filled with impulse decisions and risk-taking. I plan to travel, think less and do more. The less you think, the more you can see and feel. It's time to open my eyes.

I want to be brave now so when it's all over I can know that I truly lived.