"New year, new me."

A phrase we will all soon be hearing within the next few days quite a bit.

Going through posts on social media, it is safe to say that people are optimistic about a new year beginning soon to have a "fresh start," or they are just happy to get out of 2016. My question to everyone who feels this way is, why do you need a new year to begin to get that fresh start feeling? Or more importantly, why do you think a year ending will mean all of the problems that you had will suddenly disappear? It is sad to see everyone looking at a new year as a way out of bad times, rather than a celebration for another year lived.

Don't get me wrong, it is completely understandable to just want a fresh start after a traumatic experience in your life. If there is a death in the family, a horrible breakup, or a terrible memory you just cannot forget, you will always associate it with the year it happened in; it is just natural to do so. However, many people have gotten into the habit of looking forward to a new year beginning just to leave their problems behind thinking that they will no longer have to deal with them.

Why do that? Based on personal experience, dealing with my most traumatic problems instead of running away from them has never failed me. In the end, I will always feel like a stronger person, like I can do anything, and while my problems might get me down, they will never permanently keep me down. And do you know what the most amazing part about all of that is? You can conquer your problems at any time of the year. It sounds like something that is so simply understood, but sadly for many it is not so simple.

People dwell on issues and forget how strong they are. Going into 2017, please try to keep in mind that you are strong enough to deal with your problems, no matter how traumatic they might be. Don’t run away from them, embrace them. When the end of 2017 comes, you will see how much you have grown over the year, and you will enter 2018 stronger than you were before, ready to face any roadblock that life throws at you.

At the end of each year, remind yourself of all the reasons that the year was good, not bad. It is so much easier for people to focus on the negatives when there were so many more positives in your life. Ask yourself at the end of the year, did I live through this year? Did my family live through this year? Are we all still happy, and healthy? Do we still have the ability to fall back on each other at the end of the day?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you had a better year than most people going into the new year. A lot of people take advantage of the luxury of health and family, thinking it is a right. It is not a right to be loved, healthy, and surrounded by loved ones, it is a privilege. A privilege that is forgotten by many when they have to ask themselves, did I have a good year?

Start off 2017 reminding yourself that you are strong enough to embrace your problems, and that every day you have with loved ones is an amazing day added to the year. Instead of looking back at 2016 dreading the year you had, celebrate what you have right now going into the new year of 2017.

Happy New Years.