Personally, 2016 has been one of my best years yet. Last January I challenged myself to really move out of my comfort zone this year and find a peace within myself that would carry me to wherever I wanted to go. I knew the year would offer many challenges for me with my first solo-trip, high school graduation, and moving out of my home on top of trying to learn how to manage my ever-increasing anxiety. With every year, there were some downs. Some weeks and days that just felt plain awful. I think I cried more this year than any other year I can recall. I am the worst off financially that I've ever been. But, even with all that, I look back at 2016 with a huge smile and as possibly my favorite year yet. So here we go, in no particular order, my year!
1. People. I have met and nurtured so many relationships this year with people I've known for my entire life and faces that I've only just known for a few months. I kind of am known to hate people and really, I still don't like people all that much. But, the more people I meet, the less hopeless for humanity I feel, despite everything. I've made some of the most amazing friends this year. I feel truly blessed that I've gained so many friends in Chicago and U can't wait to see where those friendships and the ones from home continue to grow.
2. Anxiety. My number one beast from 2015 was my anxiety. I wasn't sleeping and I wasn't happy and I couldn't control it. After many visits to my counsellor and so much trial and error, I've found what is working for now to keep me in check. Some silly things still get me riled up, but I know what I can do to calm down and ride the waves with minimal effects that are damaging to my life and relationships.
3. Solo-Travel. While I wasn't staying alone, it was a bit daunting going to a new city and traveling in and out of it on public transit (which I'd never used) for the first time. This was one of my favorite trips ever, getting to stay with a best friend and her puppy and meet her family, watching my favorite sport at it's peak (sadly not my teams peak) and meeting the athletes, and exploring a new city. It was everything I could have wished for and was so empowering. I paid for the flights, the tickets to the events, organized everything for myself and that in and of itself felt amazing. I would highly recommend it and plan on doing similarly many more times.
4. Sports. I think it's every sports fan's dream to see their team in action. I'm not a conventional sports as I follow women's soccer and figure skating so it's a little more challenging than heading to a big city to see your favorite national baseball or football team. Luck really struck with me this year though as the figure skating world championships were in Boston and a grand prix event in Chicago and the USWNT was playing in Chicago. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I saw almost all of my favorite athletes in action.
5. College. I wasn't sure at all what to expect going into my first semester of college but whatever standards and expectations I had were completely hit out of the park. This semester was a home run. Don't mind the baseball puns while I reminisce about going to the Cubs victory parade. College has taught me a lot of things. How to live with friends down the hall, make time for eating, study and work, and still find adventure in the world around me. It's hard. It's really hard. But, somehow in all the challenges, it has made me feel more alive than ever and see the beauty in living.
6. Loving Myself. This is something that was a big focus for me this year. I don't generally feel unhappy with myself, so I don't mean this in that way. My focus was on bettering my life and I found that to do that, I had to find what made me feel good and do things for me, not for others. Sometimes it's important to be selfish in small ways and this year I learned how to balance that and still be giving. This wasn't an easy thing to learn at all. Sometimes I really want to do things but it is key to put myself first. The key is knowing you and being true to you.
I look forward in 2017 and see there are things I've lost over the past year in this time of so many transitions but I look knowing that that is okay. This was a pretty tough year but looking back and seeing the progress I made as a person makes every challenge worth it and my smile spread just a bit wider. Here's to another amazing year!
