16 Things I've Learnt in 2016

I always like to use the end of the year as a time for re-evaluating myself and the kind of person I've been throughout the past 12 months. I think about the things I did, the opportunities I had, the people I met and most importantly, all the regrets I have. But I don't go through it all in a negative way, I use it to understand the kind of person I'm becoming and the kind of person I want to be in the next year. I've made a lot of mistakes this year, a whole massive load of mistakes that is and I'm sure not proud of them but if anything they've been learning curves for me, they've made me realise things and helped me figure out what I'm doing with who I'm becoming. So Instead of writing a post on all my so called 'New Years resolutions' that I'll never keep, I thought I'd write down 16 things I've learnt in 2016 that I'll be taking through to next year.

1. Don't let yourself be used. I used to do this a lot, I knew certain people were just walking all over me or using me for a certain thing and I just let them. Why? Well I'm not too sure, I suppose I didn't realise that I deserved better, that I deserved more than that but when I finally did and shut those people out of my life it was like a massive weight had been lifted off my chest.

2. Life is never comfortable. I'm sure we all want to be living a comfortable life, but honestly where is the fun in that? Things change so much that you can never truly be comfortable, so don't try to reach it. Life is full of bumps, some which may want to make you throw up if you hate rollercoasters like me, but if you accept that you're never going to be completely comfortable doing what you're doing and you expand your comfort zone, you'll be a lot happier.

3. Keep what you love close. In this post here I briefly mention how lost I feel without my blog, and that's because I love it. You should always keep things you love doing close to you because they make you.. you. They're a part of you and they help make you the person you are and you really shouldn't lose that.

4. You need to grow. If you never grow as a person well, I feel sorry for you. You can't be stuck in the same mindset with the same opinions and the same mistakes your whole life because you'll never get anywhere. Knowing you're growing as a person is one of the most fulfilling feelings ever and it's so important.

5. Keep your friendship circle small. I know we all love the idea of being popular and having loads of friends, but 90% of them will end up either stabbing you in the back or are just plain out not worth it. I used to disagree with the whole "a small friendship circle is better than loads of friends" but after this year I realised just how true that statement really is.

6. Rejection is a part of life. This is super hard to come to grasp with I know, but you're always going to have rejection. I did have a whole post on this but god knows where it is, but long story short rejection isn't the end of the world. It hurts I know and it sure isn't easy but it's something that will happen to everyone an awful lot and you just have to accept that and stop living in fear of it.

7. It's okay to be sad. No one likes being sad I know, it's a horrible, sick, empty feeling that we all can't stand but sometimes it's okay. Every now and then it's healthy to let yourself just.. feel it. Don't let it take over you or let it control you but just let it be sometimes and then pick yourself up and get back on with your life.

8. Don't live in the past. This is one of the biggest mistakes I've made for most of my life and that's living in the past. I have a whole motivating post on it here but to be blunt, don't do it. It does more harm than good and you will live such a happier life if you just look at what the future could hold rather than what's already happened. Move on.

9. You don't always have to be nice. I think there's a massive difference between being a good person and being too nice. Just because you put your foot down sometimes and stop being nice on occasion, doesn't mean you're any less of an amazing person. Sometimes you just need to know when enough is enough.

10. Life is too short. If death makes you realise anything, it's that life is just too damn short. There's no point in pettiness or in hurting someone else or in not forgiving a friend or a family member for something silly because they could be gone in a heartbeat and you'd have to live with that. Do what you want and just spread happiness because any of this could end any second.

11. Believe in yourself. There's a post here which I wrote for a new series called 'Inspire Me'. It lasted one post but I'm hoping to bring it back in the New Year and stick to it because so many people enjoyed reading it. Believe in yourself and believe that you can do things, you can do what you aspire to do. All you need is a little bit of faith.

12. Never give up. This goes for not only not giving up on things you aspire to do that may be difficult, but on people who may be difficult. No friendship is easy and no one is perfect, some people are easy to love and some not so much, but don't give up on them.

13. Never beg for someones attention. This is another one that I relate to more than I care to admit, but never beg for anything. Whether it's someones friendship, someones attention or someones love, you deserve better. 

14. Just be you. You shouldn't have to be scared of being different or not being the same as everyone around you. Accept it. Our different interests and opinions and etc make us who we are, they make us human and you shouldn't have to hide who you are just because it isn't the same as anyone else or because it's thought of as 'weird'. Just do you.

15. The world isn't against you. I know sometimes it may feel like that because everything's just going wrong, but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to look positively at everything. If you want to read more on this and some tips on how to help when you feel that way then click here.

16. YOUR FLAWS DON'T DEFINE YOU. We all have them. Each and every one of us and I'd scream this from the damn rooftops if I could because it's just so important. Your flaws never have defined you and they never will.

Sorry that this was such a long post, when I thought 16 things it my head it seemed quite short but as soon as I started writing it just wouldn't stop! I loved writing this post though because it was so reflective and I know for a fact I'll be carrying all of these things on to the New Year, who needs resolutions! 2017 is the year I get serious about this blog so if you want to follow me on bloglovin then click HERE as I'm almost at 1.3k followers on bloglovin and it'd mean the world to me. I hope you guys had a good Christmas and have a good new year and be sure to comment down below the things you've learnt in 2016!

Isabelle

xxx