Every year I come back to this post because there is something so honest about it.
As I stood on the edge of 2016, I was hopeful. I was filed with such determination to not allow the year the play out like every single one before it. For the first time in a very long time, I believed in the power of change.
I believed that I could leave it all behind me.
In those moments, Hope was a Wildfire.
And that Hope fueled me through the tough months ahead.
Midnight meant that I made through nearly one year of recovery, but it was still a new road to me. It was self preservation and determination that had gotten me through.
But I wanted to thrive, not just survive.
I remember ringing in the new year watching Demi Lovato perform, someone who I look up to in recovery because our paths have looked a lot alike. And I was proud in those moments to see her happy and healthy and living her dreams and I wanted the same.
I welcomed the possibility of a life truly free of the things that I have battled for so long.
A year where I wouldn’t drown my sorrows in alcohol and the comfort of a razor.
A year where I could be healthy enough to help others.
A year where I could see my dreams coming to fruition.
A year where happiness and love would overflow
instead of the cover of darkness and depression.
and as I stand on the edge of 2017…
Every single one of those Hopes has come to pass.
And my heart can barely handle just grateful I feel in these moments.
2017 is the continuation of something wonderful,
of something I have fought for so many years to finally have…
A LIFE I LOVE.
WELCOME 2017, let’s make it a good one.