2017: The Summary

2017 was nothing short of interesting. What started out as a low point quickly changed into some of the happiest few months of my life. I'm not one to ever analyze every aspect of my life but here's a few takeaways from this year.

1. Your mental health should be your #1 priority.
I think we so easily put our personal feelings and concerns as an afterthought. Getting an A in that class or living up to your parents' expectations; there's so many factors that keep us from doing what makes us happy in a certain moment. I think we work toward those physical milestones and expect the happiness to tag along, but that's not always the case. Something easy as taking a break during a busy day to grab a cup of coffee can change your mood so much. On another note, it's also okay to be sad or angry but it's important to assess your situation and decide whether it's worth using up that energy. Sadness and anger are both powerful emotions that can motivate and empower us, but are only useful in circumstances where a change can be made. Yeah, I got upset when a man whispered, "konichiwa," as I walked past him on the street but it's not worth wasting my time or energy yelling at him. That poor man will probably always be an inconsiderate and disrespectful person, while I can use that experience to learn how words can affect someone.

2. Let go of people who don't support you in every aspect of your life.
"Did you ever hear back from that one place?" He sat across the table, asking me. What had been a happy moment for me, about to take a bite of my gyro pizza (yes, that's a thing and yes, you need to try it), suddenly turned sour. "I told you I didn't get it last week," I replied. He non-chanlantly shook it off saying I never told him, but he didn't see the tears I held back. It was in that moment that I knew it was time to let go. You welcome people into your life because there's a certain quality about them that makes you a better version of yourself. As you get to know them, they teach lessons no one else could've taught you. Together, you grow to become better people. However, in some cases, you grow at different rates. There's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we hang onto people we outgrow; we become attached to an idealized version of them. "He's my safety blanket," was a reason that kept me hesitant. It's so easy to hold onto that familiar sense of comfort, but safety never helps you grow as a person. Of course, there's realistically no relationship that'll make you happy 100% of the time but through adversity, you should always grow with the people you surround yourself with. I think we hang onto that comfort because we think of letting people go as a bad thing. I like to think of letting go as creating space in your heart for building new relationships and strengthening old ones. If you were able to grow and learn from someone, that's always something to be thankful for and you shouldn't feel bad for striving to become a better version of yourself. This year, I met some of the most hard-working, inspiring people. The new energy I surrounded myself around gave me a sense of motivation and happiness that I hadn't felt in years. I rediscovered friendships that became a much stronger support system than that "safety blanket."

3. Spend energy working on things that you're passionate about.
This year, I took on a position in my sorority as Online Media Director. As one of the projects, my co-director and I decided to re-vamp our sorority website; that was what sparked my interest for web development. Of course, we used Weebly and there was about 5% of coding that actually went into making the site, but nonetheless, I immediately knew it was something I wanted to pursue. I had run into many crises at that point with figuring out what I wanted to do with my major, and was considering even switching out at one point. However, spending three months over the summer creating this blog was one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I've ever done. Finding an outlet to express my creativity through web design while also challenging my knowledge with web development has been an amazing experience. Rather than a simple project I decided to do in my free time, this blog has become an escape for me. For the first time, I can see a path toward my future and I'm excited to work hard toward something that I'm passionate about.

The phrase hung up on the wall beside my bed, "Vienna waits for you," focuses on the idea of slowing down and taking a breath because you will always reach your goals. In the moment, we can get caught up with little details but looking back on the year proves that we've all made strides. As we enter 2018, when you feel lost, upset, or even happy, know that your Vienna is always waiting for you.