A lot of the time, a new year is seen as a new start. Many people want to focus on their goals for the upcoming months and see it as a way to forget all of the negative things the previous year brought. However, I think one of the most important (and overlooked) parts of a new year is the opportunity to look back and realize what you've accomplished, learned, and been through.
What's the point of making goals and coming up with resolutions at the beginning of the year if you don't even acknowledge them at the end?
I was going through old photos on my VSCO account, and I found an entry I made in the "journal" during a trip I took to Jacksonville, Florida, my senior year of high school over winter break with my cheerleading team. We were there over New Year's, and in the journal, I wrote about that night compared to the previous year's New Year's Eve, as well as a reflection of the whole year in general. It features a picture of me and my two friends, Morgan and Claire, and it reads:
"Last year I ended 2014 and started 2015 with these two people, and I had the privilege of ending 2015 and starting 2016 with them too. It's so cool and special that after a whole year and everything it contained we're still as close as we were.
Everyone usually looks at New Year's Eve as a celebration of a new year and starting over, but I think people miss out on the importance of looking back at everything that happened and how things and you as a person have changed.
Even though Claire, Morgan and I were outside on a somewhat random guy's driveway alone last year during the first official minutes of 2015, everything else about that night and life, in general, was pretty great. I had someone to kiss at approximately 12:04, and friends to make Vines with and drink kid's champagne with from 1-5 am.
"I lost the person I kissed that night later in the year, and while that was one of the hardest things I've been through I learned so much about myself and came out of 2015 knowing more about life than I ever had.
It's an awful truth that suffering can teach us more than we might want to know and even add more color to our lives, but it's the truth, and I'm grateful I experienced it this past year.
I genuinely feel really good about everything, and I got to close out 2015 playing Never Have I Ever with some of the best people I've ever met. We also went bowling and got really good pizza, so that was obviously a highlight. Kid's champagne was involved too."
Looking back on this, I'm able to see how far I've come since the first days of 2015 and 2016 – which is a long way. Doing something like this every year gives you the opportunity to re-experience how you felt about your life in past years and reflect on how it compares to how you feel now.
Contrary to popular belief, it's OK to look back.
It's important even. Make taking the time to learn more about yourself a resolution this year – your future self will thank you.
