I Hope You Leave 2018 With Closure

I hope you forget to bring your baggage along with you into 2019. I hope you walk into the year with an open heart. I hope you give yourself the honor of a clean slate.

As 2018 comes to an end, I hope you forgive yourself for the mistakes you’ve made over the past year, for not following through on some of the goals you swore you were going to complete, for not reaching the milestones you entered the year longing to achieve. I hope you are kind to yourself. I hope you stop counting all of your mistakes and start counting your accomplishments. You might not have completed every resolution. You might not have earned the success you dreamed about. But you grew into a new person this year. You learned so much this year. You should be proud of yourself for that.

As 2018 comes to an end, I hope you stop thinking about the toxic people you cut out of your life these last few months. I hope you learn to accept they are no longer in your life for a reason and you are better off without their anchors. I hope you can forgive them enough to move on from them but not enough to make the same mistake twice. Above all, I hope you find new people to surround yourself with, people who will love you and respect you despite your quirks, people who would never dare to hurt you because they mean it when they say they care.

As 2018 comes to an end, I hope you stop stressing over the what ifs you can no longer change. I hope you learn to accept your past and move on from it. I hope you stop torturing yourself with thoughts about what you should have done differently these last few months and start focusing on how you are going to do better in the future. I hope you look forward instead of behind. I hope you remember you cannot change what happened yesterday, but you are in complete control of what happens tomorrow.

As 2018 comes to an end, I hope you stop comparing where you are this year to where you were last year. I hope you realize that — whether you feel like you took ten steps forward this year or ten steps backward — you have nothing to be ashamed about. Some years go better than others. You will gain things and you will lose things. You will climb the mountain and then you will slide back down. I hope you are not too hard on yourself about the path you took these past twelve months. I hope you still love yourself even on the days you doubt yourself.

As 2018 comes to an end, I hope you remember next year does not have to be a repeat of this year. You can restart your the resolutions you lost track of lately. Or you can set completely new goals for yourself. You can create any kind of year you want. It is entirely up to you.