Dear 2016,

You were one of the most stressful and heartbreaking years of my life. Yet you were also one of the most exciting, adventurous, and hopeful years of my life. Over the past 365 days, I have learned so many lessons that have changed me in so many ways. It's crazy to think about how many important things have happened to me this year and how there were so many milestones that I reached. I graduated high school, I moved away from home, I started college, I had ups, I had downs, and I had everything in between. I can honestly say that this year has taught me more lessons than I have ever learned in my life.

Thank you 2016 for showing me that it's okay to not have everything figured out. It's okay to start college and have no idea what you want to do with your life. It's okay to have a mental breakdown here and there. It's okay to make mistakes and totally and completely screw up, as long as you got something out of it. It's okay to simply just not know what you're doing, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Thank you 2016 for showing me that there is so much more out there. There is so much more to life than the small town I grew up in. There is so much more out there than a town that I have never left for my entire life. There are so many places and so many people and so many beautiful things that I have yet to discover.

Thank you 2016 for showing me that it's okay to leave everything that I've ever known. You helped me realize that there is so much more out there, and you helped me realize that It's okay to leave it all behind and go find new things.

Thank you 2016 for helping me to love myself. I'm so far from loving myself, but I'm so much closer than I was at the beginning of this year. It takes time to learn to love your flaws and to realize that it's okay to not be perfect, but 2016 has helped me to get a little bit closer to reaching that goal.

Thank you 2016 for helping me find the courage to eliminate toxic people from my life. Thank you for making it very clear to me who was with me and who was against me. It's always been a very difficult thing for me to cut people out of my life, but this year opened my eyes so much to who was helping me and who was hurting me. If someone is making it hard for you to be happy or making you feel like you're hard to love, there is nothing wrong with dropping them. Thank you for giving me the courage to leave those people.

Thank you 2016 for helping me realize that I can't please everyone. No matter how much I care about someone, I can't make them care that much about me. Thank you for showing me that I need to love as hard as I can and give it all I've got, and if I don't get that in return then it's not my fault. The person that you love isn't always going to love you, but that's okay because life happens.

Thank you 2016 for showing me that when one door closes, another one opens. Above all else, 2016 showed me that no matter how scared I was to move on, let go of something or someone, or even physically move away, there was always a better opportunity, a better person, or a better door waiting on me when I finally got the courage to step up and do what I was scared to do.

So thank you 2016 for being the most stressful and heartbreaking, yet exciting and hopeful year of my life.