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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at IUP chapter.

 

Reflecting On 365 Days

 

“Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.”

                                                                                                       -Yvonne Woon, Dead Beautiful

 

If you would have asked me a year ago of where I would be today, I would have told you that I would not be sure if I would even be alive, let alone happy. A year can do alot to a person. Within a year anyone can, fall in or out of love, move out of the country, have a baby, hit rock bottom, and reach the top of the mountain.

(Photo by: Jennifer Regnier)

Reflecting on your past can be one of the most important things you can do. Reflecting gives you the chance to take your past, whether it be good or bad, and turn it into something amazing. It gives you a chance to understand that your aren’t perfect and neither are the people that surround you. Understand that what had happened to you, good or bad, happened for a reason. Therefore, making you who you are as a person.

A year ago, I would wake up, for months, everyday, dreading my life ahead of me. I didn’t know how the day was going to go, but I just knew it was not going to be good. I was in toxic relationships, I was constantly surrounded with people who I thought were friends, but felt alone. I stopped sticking up for myself, I stopped caring about my appearance, and I stopped caring about my health. I was letting parts of myself die everyday without ever realizing it. As the year went on, my mental health was like a seesaw. One day I was perfect and the next I would sleep the day away.

(Photo by: Megan te Boekhorst)

One day I woke up, decided to go out with some people I thought had my back, and that night changed my life. That night, I finally stuck up for myself, I put the drinks down, and I cut off all toxic relationships. That was the day the year had made a 360. My mental health has been amazing, some days I’m still struggling, but not how I used to be. I am not constantly surrounded by friends, but when I am, I feel comfortable and accepted. My grades are great, my health is good, and I started shopping for clothes that make me feel good again.

After reflecting this year, I am blessed that everything happened when it did this year for me. I am with someone who truly cares for me, I have a closer relationship with my family, I have real friends, and I have a better outlook on life. If you were to ask me today, where I see myself in a year, I would tell you, happy, healthy and succeeding.

 

"She remembered who she was, then the game changed."