Lessons I’ve learned in this year full of travel and awesomeness.

• The scariest risks are the ones worth taking. Bungy jumping, driving across country alone, moving to New Zealand – all scared me with the possible bad outcomes, but they were risks worth taking. And they all turned out great. Usually things do, which is why I plan to keep taking risks.

• When I think I can’t? I can. Simple enough, but telling myself I can’t has been a personal problem for a long time. I’ve learned that generally it’s either anxiety or fear or both telling me I can’t and that if I push past the mental block I almost always can do whatever it is I doubted.

• Health is a journey, not a destination. Getting stuck with weight loss this year reminded me that this is a long journey. It’s one that never ends, even if you reach a goal weight.

• Change is okay. Circumstances change, ideas change, goals change… and that is okay. Commitment is great but don’t be afraid to change what you are doing if it feels right. And when things do change? It’s okay. Change is good.

• Finding new people is awesome. Reaching out and meeting new people and building relationships can be scary. It works out sometimes and other times it doesn’t. But meeting new people and giving them a chance is worthwhile.

• People, even strangers, are good. From the blog friends who took me in on my travels to the ones who took care of me at Fitbloggin, from the strangers who gave me a ride home to the strangers who gave me change when I needed it. People are good and willing to help when you need it.

• My mom will always be my best friend. This year my relationship with my mom became something very special to me that I didn’t recognize before. She has and always will be my bestest friend in the word and I love her dearly.

• Intuitive eating does not work for me. I spent the whole year hovering around the same number on the scale basically maintaining my weight. In the end I realized intuitive eating – the system that I so wanted to work – just didn’t work for me. Yet. I firmly believe it will be easy to maintain a loss (like this year’s maintenance of 40 ish pounds!), but I first have to get there by using other methods.

• The things you struggle with need to be talked about. For so long I’ve carried around overwhelming anxiety that has crafted my life in a way that would have been otherwise different. It sucks that I kept something like that a secret and just learned to deal with it by avoiding the situations that caused me to freak out. I learned this year that admitting it and talking about it is the best thing possible because then others with the same problem open up to you and offer helpful suggestions. Even your best friends understand you better. Being open might be scary, but it’s worth it. I learned to no longer hide the “bad” parts of myself.

• Life is awesome. Yes this is a lesson I learned last year. It’s a lesson I learned this year too because amazingly, each year is better than the last.