2015 may have been a rough year for you.

2015 may have been a rough year for you.

365 days of a roller coaster ride that only goes down.
52 weeks of hardships and determination.
8,760 hours of a never-ending war.

525,600 minutes of constantly battling that small voice in your head that tells you to give up.

31,536,000 seconds of choosing to overcome, choosing to fight and choosing yourself.

It may not have been what you expected. It may not have been butterflies and happily ever after. This year may have introduced you to failure, to loss, to defeat. To disappointment, to heartbreak, to crisis. You may have felt like life isn't going to get any better, that things will never turn around for you. This year may have stolen every last inch of desire, dream and passion that's left within you. It may be another year of suffering, of rejection, of hardships, and of utter desperation.

Maybe it was a year filled with so many aches and agonizing experiences that you wonder if they'll be forever etched in your soul. A rejected admiration, a failed college application, a loss job. Opportunities missed, goals unachieved, moments wasted and time abstained. There may have been times when you felt lost, moments when you felt like you would never be able to find your way up once more. Instances where you felt like your future was so far and so unclear, and days when you felt like life was a big bowl of torment and that it did nothing but wait until you finally put both hands up and gave in just so it finally was able to laugh at you.

Your 2015 may have been a series of highs and lows. Laughters and tears. Joy and sadness. Anger and guilt. Fears and bravery. Anxiety and confidence. It may have been a mixture of everything good, everything bad, and everything in between. And as it ends, you may think that life will never get any better. That your coming years will only pull the same stunt on you, that the coming 2016 will only be worse.

Well stop, stop thinking that. Please stop.

Instead, try thinking about those few good moments, those that catapulted you forward and forward until you were able to see the light. Remember the people you met, the ones that pushed you and hurt you. Remember the places you visited, the ones that showed you how beautiful the world is and enriched your soul. And most especially remember the experiences that have changed you and made you who you are today.

Realize that graduating with honors didn't make any of us a better person, failing a job application did. Getting hired didn't, but being unemployed did. Laughter and comfort didn't either, but endless nights of tears and disappointment did. Without knowing it, these “bad” things that made up our 2015 have also taught us life's greatest lesson:

That there is more to life than meets the eye and that it is utterly 
greater than the sum of its parts.

That life may be crucial and complicated, but it's also kind and breathtaking. That life may be hideous at times, but it's marvelous most of the time. That the hardest of times, can create the strongest portion of ourselves. That neither the best, nor the happiest moments of our lives can turn us into a magnificent soul, but it's actually the most tragic, most painful and the most challenging moments that build us and transform us into who we are and who we're supposed to be.

So don't give up just yet, I beg you.

2016 is different. It's a year of revival and greatness. It will be a year filled with hope, with happiness, and with victories. This is the year of the misfits, the artists, the crazy souls, the broken hearts, the creative minds. This is your year, my friend. Trust me, better days are indeed coming. You are strong and courageous, don't you ever think about giving up.

Be nothing but excited! This year will be filled with great memories, a heavier scale for the laughter than the tears. More bravery than fear. More confidence than anxiety. More highs than lows. More joy than hurt, and this time my friend, it will be real, genuine happiness. 

There will be realizations of dreams, flourishing careers, blessings and glorious achievements. This is the year when your life will finally go your pace.

This is when you will live the life you've always wanted, when you will finally be able to do all those things you've always wanted to do, when you will get that job you are really passionate about, when you will go to that one place you've always wanted to go to, when you will witness life as a lovely, iridescent light.

I know for a fact that you will be triumphant this year. 

The best moments of your life are yet to happen.