There are lessons to be learned everywhere. Some we were warned about, some we read about and then you have the lessons that you never saw coming. The things that happen in life that come totally out of left field. When you're sitting there thinking life is one way and it turns out to be the complete opposite

What I've learned this year is this... anything can happen. Anything can happen at any point in time, out of nowhere, and completely catch us off guard. This year I have loved, I have lost, I have fallen down, I have been given opportunities and it's been a constant up and down for me. Anything can come along and totally change your reality.

I think we live life in fear because of this fact. I still live in some fear because of all of the unknown that could happen, but, see that's no way to live. If we constantly walked around and didn't try anything because of the fear of it going all wrong then we wouldn't be truly living; we wouldn't have anything.

I don't want fear to run my life and I sure as hell don't want it to hold me back from anything. Considering the year I've had, you would think that I'd run from everything, but I plan on doing the opposite. Ya see, I made it out alive, I survived the pain, I survived the unknown that came crashing down on my life. If anything, my experiences this last year have made me grow so much more and in the end, I have an appreciation for it.

That's what we need. We need more gratitude and less fear. When we live with gratitude, we can appreciate what went wrong because it teaches us and can lead us to a life we never saw coming. We don't see the big picture until the end. One day you'll turn around and say, “Oh, that's why that happened.” I think for most of us we've had some of those days. The days where everything is going right and we think back on what went wrong and appreciate it because if that didn't happen we wouldn't have what we have now.

Fear just ruins it; it takes away the reason for living. Don't stop doing something because you're afraid of failure again, of everything falling apart again, of all of that. Believe me, I know life is scary and to take the chance of doing something again is terrifying sometimes. Whether it's love, a career, etc, in the end, it's worth the chances you take.

So my point is this... This year I learned anything can happen. Instead of sitting around waiting for the bad things to happen or living in fear of what may be coming, just live. Just go live your life and be happy. Be happy in the moment that you have and if, in the end, it falls apart, at least you know you enjoyed it while it lasted. This life is filled with ups and downs and it will unfortunately always be that way, but guys, if we can go into it with gratitude instead of the fear, we will live happier lives. Yes, anything can happen, but the good thing about that is it doesn't always have to be bad; good things happen too.