Five Things I've Learned This Year

How is it the last day of the year already??? 
2017 has been a big year for me in many ways; this year I finished high school and started university, I made new friends and grew stronger with old ones, I planned and went on holiday with my friends and did it all without the help of parents (which seems like an easy thing to do, but with knowing my friends, this was an achievement for us to actually organise/plan ahead for something😄). And of course the year hasn’t just been filled with big moments, there have also been little things that happened throughout the year too. I've learned quite a few things this year; about myself and in general, so I thought I would share five of those things on my blog.

1. Small steps are just as important as big ones - Starting university this year was a huge step, one that I hadn't fully felt ready for at the time but one that I'm really proud of myself for. In starting university however, I realised that the smaller steps are of equal importance to the bigger ones. For example, being very shy and knowing that I had to talk to many new people this year was something that I had believed I genuinely couldn't do and became very anxious at the thought of talking to strangers. Even just having to ask for a ticket at the train station was something that made me nervous, but I did it. It was a small thing, but I did it! Sometimes all you can do it work on the smaller steps that make up the bigger ones,  but each step is just as important as the other.

2. You are capable of so much more than you think - Throughout this year, with all the changes that occurred, there were many instances where I had honestly believed that I couldn't do something and in almost every situation, I found that I actually could do the things I didn't believe I could. I think, with going into 2018, I'm going to work on having just a little more faith in myself in everything I go on to do in the upcoming year. 

3. Making time for friends and loved ones is so important - With leaving high school, I've really come to realise just how important it is to find even just a little time to get together with friends and keep in contact. It's so odd going from seeing a group of friends every day to being lucky if you see them once a month. But when you do see them, it's all the more special because you're never fully sure when the next time you'll get together will be; it could be the next month, week or even just a day😄

4. Find time for yourself - It can be so easy to get caught up in work and deadlines and things that make you feel stressed but it's so important that you find some time for yourself. More so that you can recharge and get to work on all those other things more efficiently. Taking time for yourself doesn't always need to be long bubble baths and pamper sessions (although that it nice too!) Taking time for yourself could also be enjoying a good book or your favourite TV show or eating your favourite food or listening to your favourite song on repeat as many times as you can. Sometimes it's the simpler things that make the biggest difference.

5. Not everything needs to be planned out 100% - This was something I really learned this year. I used to be the type of person where everything would need to be planned and fully prepared for; I'd need to know aaaalllll the details before agreeing to something. However, this year I've come to realise that spontaneous plans turn out to be even better than the fully prepared ones. I feel like a lot of my favourite and most memorable memories come from going on random little outings with my friends that weren't planned out or thought about. It just made everything more fun. Now I'm definitely more the kind of person who doesn't need to plan something out before doing it, I just go with the flow.

These are a few of the main things I came to learn this year. I look forward to seeing what lessons the new year will bring!

What is one of the main things you learned in 2017?

Bye for now, xo