As you finish your final exams, wrap up your Christmas shopping, or submit this year's last projects at work, remember to breathe. You deserve it.

Congratulations, you've conquered another year! 12 months of financial budgeting, 52 weeks of working and studying, and 365 days full of making choices. Hopefully, 2016 brought you a little more excitement than just passing through these said motions.

Taking another trip around the sun is essentially 365 days of keeping yourself and those around you alive, both literally and figuratively. There is no doubt that over the course of this past year, you've helped a friend, made a stranger smile, and turned someone's day around for the better. Maybe you didn't even know it! Either way, you made some kind of impact this year, whether it be on yourself, others, or both.

Take pride in the accomplishments you've made, goals you've reached, and new things you've learned in 2016. Appreciate the memories you've made and experiences you've had. Don't beat yourself up for any mistakes you may have made, or for situations that didn't manifest into what you had initially intended for them to be. Remember that everything in life is a learning experience, and that there is nowhere you can possibly be that isn't exactly where you're meant to be in this very moment.

With positive reflections on 2016 regardless of what events it constituted, gracefully step into 2017. Take with you fond memories and lessons learned. We learn from and appreciate our past in order to build our future. Cheers to the new year!