I think we can all agree that 2016 was a pretty crappy year. No ones saying it wasn't, but hey, we made it to the end. 2017 is upon us! Everyone is running around saying "new year, new me!" and that's great, what better time to start fresh then a brand new year? But let me ask you this, what exactly is this new you going to be like? What changes are you making? Maybe you want to lose weight (awesome, do it!), or maybe you want to stop smoking, or drink less. Maybe you just want to relax a little more (or a little less). All that stuff is fine and dandy, but whats the point? So you feel better about yourself when you look in the mirror while brushing your teeth every morning? So you fit in? So society accepts and loves you? Well, here's the one thing 2016 taught me, all the praise in the world isn't going to make you any better. The only way to improve is to love yourself enough to get what you deserve.

I'll say it again.

Love yourself.

Think about this, have you ever witnessed someone being bullied? A perfectly innocent person who has done nothing wrong getting put down and abused? It makes you mad doesn't it? It makes you want to fight and defend them. It makes you think "why would someone treat someone else like that?"

Okay, if you cant wrap your head around why someone would treat someone else like that, why do you treat yourself like that?

If you look in the mirror every morning and think "wow, I'm fat," or "my skin is terrible," or "why aren't I attractive like ____?", than you are bullying yourself.

Cut it out, don't do that s***. Don't stand in your own way. Don't hold yourself back from your own happiness.

Love yourself.

Love yourself enough to take care of your body, respect yourself enough to eat healthy and exercise. You take care of the other people you love, can you imagine how well you would take care of yourself if you loved you the same way? Treat yourself, pamper yourself, spoil yourself. You deserve it. You deserve all the love and respect in the world, why wouldn't you give that to yourself?

Take 2017 to reinvent yourself, fall in love with yourself. Surround yourself with good things and good people. Don't you realize that you can change your life whenever you want? You can wake up tomorrow and decide not to eat meat, you can get a hair cut, you can patch things up with the old friend, you can quit your crappy job, you can catch a plane to Australia. You can do anything you want.

Don't let yourself suffer for someone else. Respect yourself enough to not let others tear you down. Put yourself so high on a pedestal that those bullies can't even reach you.

Love yourself.

Love yourself.

Love yourself.

Love yourself.

Love yourself.

You deserve it.

Make 2017 your b****. You got this, I believe in you.