As 2014 draws to a close

Here we are again, on the last day of the year. Man, I feel like year by year time passes more and more quickly.

Earlier today while skimming through photos on my laptop, my eyes started to well up roughly halfway through the year when it hit me how blessed I am. And when I say I blessed, I mean that I've been truly gifted with such amazing friends, family, memories and experiences. 2014 has been a year consisting of trials, challenges, tribulations and most importantly self-discovery. To me 2014 was definitely a year of self-discovery – and self-trust.

If it comes to friends – this year was amazing! I have never been such an outgoing and sociable person. Over the course of the year I made a handful of really amazing friends who I can’t imagine not knowing, I’ve met a bunch of amazing, bubbly, outgoing and talkative characters just like myself.

Man! A year can go by in the quickest of flashes. 2014 was definitely a year full of surprises. I must admit, it’s been an interesting or should I say a roller coaster of year. I grew stronger not only as a person but also a writer. And as each successive day differed just slightly from the last, when a year’s worth of those days has passed, I find myself in an entirely new place from when I began.

I’d like to take a moment in today’s post to really think about who & what I’ve gotten to see and experience over the year. I’ve been lucky enough to experience something different each day, each week, and each month in the past year.

2014 brought changes – big changes, small changes, good ones and also many not so good ones; but from where I stand right now, I’ve come to realize that I should always look back at those experiences with a smile and learn from them. I’ve learned to be proud of my accomplishments and most importantly I’ve realized I should look at hardships as both opportunities & learning experiences to better myself. We get so caught up with the negatives in life so easily that we don’t realize that we are above all, insurmountably blessed just to be alive.

As for 2015 new year resolutions, fortunately I’ve never been the type to set New Year’s goals or resolutions. For me, if I make up my mind to try or change something, I usually give it a go regardless of the time of year. All in all, it’s been a successful year.

 2014, thank you for all you’ve given me. And 2015… Let’s do this!

I had an extremely hard time picking which photos I wanted to put up as my “best of 2014″. So here’s a few favorites of mine.