A lot can happen in a year. As we get older, it seems like a year gets shorter and shorter, while more things are simultaneously happening. Fewer things to get happy about, more to mourn. We attend more funerals instead of weddings. Hear about more people losing themselves, and not enough people finding themselves.

A lot of us hide underneath shells, behind walls, hiding who we really are to the world. Sometimes we hide for months, years, decades, and sometimes our whole lives. Always carrying around our secrets inside and never revealing who we really are. We may only share ourselves with one or two very close people, but never with everyone. I mean, how hard is it to share ourselves with the world? Every day we have to perform and act a certain way, never showing moments of weakness or hardship. We have to always show the most positive emotions and an upbeat attitude. It gets quite exhausting after any length of time.

A little over a year ago, I made the decision to be my authentic self, no strings attached, no holding back. No more hiding, no more running. Over the last year I've learned quite a bit about myself, including many things that I never really thought that I would have ever experienced in my life. Most of what I have experienced has been a wonderful and joyous time, because I'm also learning new things about myself.

1. Being Patient and Kind (but stern!)

I've learned to be patient with others, while knowing that other people don’t have all the answers either. Learning to calm myself and knowing when is the right time to pick battles, and when someone just needs some education on matters at hand instead. I’ve also learn that I’m more willing to talk and handle these people while helping them learn, all in a way that is beneficial for everyone.

2. Being more accepting

I’ve also learned to love and be a lot more accepting of people in who they are. It takes a lot of courage to show who you really are, and a lot of that means that they are putting themselves out there. I've also realized that I'm more accepting of people's faults as well, in noticing their shortcomings and realizing that not everyone around you can have the same views, or experiences as you. The more people that you realize that about, the better your attitude will be.

3. Being more open with yourself

You know the effort and the scrutiny that can come out of being authentic with everyone, and you realize that sometimes with that comes shortcomings in your life. I've grown to accept that fact that there are just things about me that I cannot change, even more so with the fact that I am transitioning. I'm also more conscious about my feelings and my emotions, and am able to deal with these in a healthier way compared to the way that I was before.

4. I learn something every day

Every single day I’m learning something new about myself. I've grown to accept the fact that my desires, wants and needs, change on a daily basis. Realizing that these change is one of the biggest things that it took to really strive towards happiness. Every single day of this transition, I also realize that there are going to be days that I just absolutely hate myself, and that's okay.

5. Realized I can't please everyone

This is a major one that I've been struggling with for a very long time. Trying to please everyone is a natural instinct for me, it's how I've always been. This is something that I've been trying to work on for just about ever, and I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to overcome it, but I know that when I'm thinking logically,

6. People will see me however they want

This one is a little bit both negative and positive, and I'll explain in a minute. We always have these unrealistic views of ourselves, in both extremes. People will always see things in us that we just clearly don't see, and won't see unless we are directly shown them. We have to learn that we cannot change the way people see, and just have to let them think that way for themselves. People will think you're the worst person in the world, no matter what you do, while others think you're the most amazing person, no matter what you do wrong.

These certainly aren't the only things that I've learned over the last year of being the real me, but these are some of the most highlighted points that I've learned. Don't forget to just be true to yourself, and those who matter will stick around, and those who are upset with the real you never deserved to be in your life anyway.