Twenty-six days from now, another year of our lives will have passed us by. 2016 came and went in the blink of an eye, just like every other year has in the past. As we grow older, it seems like the years go by quicker and quicker. 2016 was definitely not the easiest year of my life, as I’m sure it wasn’t for many other people. Whether you lost friends, went through a breakup or just had a few bad days, we all had our moments in 2016. Despite all of the hardships, 2016 was one of the most important years of my life. For those of you who went through hell and back this year, here’s a few things that 2016 taught me about my life.

1. Things aren’t always going to go your way.

If life was perfect and things always went as expected, it wouldn’t be any fun. One thing that’s hard for people to understand is that things aren’t always going to go your way. You’re going to have those days when you wake up late and the world takes advantage of every chance it gets to mess with you. On those days, embrace the unexpected, laugh at yourself and realize that not every day will be perfect. Tomorrow you get a chance to try it all over again.

2. Life is what you make of it.

This is probably one of the most cliché sayings that we’ve all heard, but after 2016, I realized that it's true. A lot of the time we feel that we don’t have control over our lives and that we’re supposed to just live our life as it comes to us. When you realize that life is what you make of it, then that changes. You get to decide if today is a good day. When you learn to say, “So what?” and forget about all the terrible things that have happened, you’ll realize that you can control your life and the way you live it.

3. Home is where the heart is.

When I went off to college, I felt out of place and just wanted to go home. I had grown up in the same town for 18 years of my life and it was where I was most comfortable. I had the idea in my head that home was a place far away from where I was. This year, I realized that home is where the heart is. Home is wherever you long to be and that location can change constantly. Of course, I will always have a home in the small town where I grew up, but I also have a new home with new amazing people and new opportunities. My heart lies in more than one place and that’s home.

4. Things will get better.

We have to stop believing that everything is the end of the world. Face the fact that you’re going to get hurt, you’re going to lose people and you’re going to deal with some hard things in life. However, no matter what happens, it’s not the end of the world. Things will get better as long as you let them.

5. You determine your own happiness.

In today’s world, we constantly rely on other people for our own happiness. We often get involved in relationships because we think that they will turn our lives around and make us happy. All of us are guilty of looking for validation from others that we’re good enough. Until you stop looking for your happiness in someone else, you will never be happy. At the end of the day, the only person that can make you happy is you.

6. Tell it how it is.

Every single one of us is guilty of not saying what needs to be said. Whether we’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or we’re just passive aggressive, we never just tell people the truth. If we were all straightforward about how we felt, 90 percent of the problems that we have in our lives wouldn’t exist.

7. Don’t let people take advantage of you.

At some point in our lives we’ve all been taken advantage of by someone. Sometimes it’s because we don’t know how to take control or sometimes we just don’t feel like we deserve better. Letting someone take advantage of you is one of the worst things you can do. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. Odds are if someone is taking advantage of you, they don’t deserve to be in your life.

8. Make a few mistakes.

Say the wrong thing, fail a test, pull an all-nighter, fall in love with someone you shouldn’t. Life is meant for making mistakes. Until we make those mistakes, we will never learn how not to make them. No matter how many times we are told not to do something because it’s a mistake, we will never truly understand until we make that mistake ourselves. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but also make sure that you learn from them.

9. You can’t please everyone.

Stop trying to make everyone else happy. Do what you want, say what you want and be who you want to be. It’s as simple as that.

10. No one actually knows what they’re doing.

The moment that you realize that no one knows what they’re doing with their life is when you will finally realize it’s OK. We often look at others and wish that our lives were as put together as theirs. However, what you don’t know is that person has no idea what they’re doing and is probably thinking the same thing about you. Life is way too unpredictable to figure it all out.