Sometimes it’s hard to believe how fast time goes by.
The other day, I had a memory come up on my phone from 3 years ago with a picture of my to-do list for my website that said: “Put in 25 hours this week, still a long way to go but proud of the progress!”
It wasn’t until two years after I took that picture that I hit the publish button on my website. Since 2024 was the first year writing full-time for my site, I feel like I did a lot more reflecting than I usually do throughout the year—especially with how much time I dedicated to creating new content every week.
Rather than reflecting on my year as a whole, I went back and read old journal entries from the start of the year until now. This year, since I chose ‘intentional’ as my word to live by instead of setting a New Year’s resolution, I’ve focused on being more intentional with my writing—both for my site and myself. Even if I felt like I was going in circles in some of my journal entries—writing about the same struggles, questions, and feelings, I still think it’s important to take the time to get our thoughts out of our heads and on paper.
As a personal post, I wanted to share 10 of my 2024 end of the year reflections and life lessons learned:
1. Instead Of Trying To Resist Change, We Need To Embrace It In Its Entirety
The things that happen in our lives won’t always feel good or make sense. Sometimes life takes us down unexpected and winding paths that are anything but straight. Change teaches us how to accept what’s happening to us, regardless if we can see what’s ahead of us or not.
Instead of trying to resist change, 2024 taught me that we need to learn how to embrace change for its entirety. We can’t pick apart the pieces we do like and discard the rest—it’s more about learning how to navigate the detours, roadblocks, and the unexpected parts of our path that ultimately lead us where we’re supposed to be.
No matter how much we don’t want change to happen or feel like we’re aren’t ready for it—it’ll come regardless of how we feel. Rather than focusing on what is or isn’t happening, sometimes all we can do is embrace where we are, even in seasons of uncertainty.
Our road will eventually come to an end. When we get to that end of that road, we’ll often find that if we had welcomed change rather than resisted it, the journey would’ve been a bit more enjoyable along the way. Accepting change won’t necessarily make it easier, but it can help you let go of the things you know you should let go of to embrace what’s ahead.
2. Moments Of Stillness Can Give You The Most Clarity
2024 brought many moments of stillness, quietness, and slowness.
Since I always need full concentration when I’m writing or creating content, I’m often alone with my thoughts—whether it’s with pen and paper, or typing on my computer. This gave me the opportunity to reflect more deeply and gain clarity on how I was feeling, both mentally and physically.
It helped me prioritize what was most important and make the changes I needed so that I could feel like a better version of myself. Too often, I think we put an unnecessary amount of pressure on ourselves to live up to an expectation that we’ve set for ourselves in our heads—when the most important thing we can do is learn how to be present where we are.
If you’re experiencing a season of loneliness or feel like you aren’t getting the answers you’re looking for, never underestimate the value of stillness. Sometimes it can bring even more clarity than you would have thought possible.
3. You Never Have To Explain Yourself, Especially To People Who Are Committed To Misunderstanding You
I often include this one in my reflections because I’ve always struggled with over-explaining my decisions and the reasons behind those choices. 2024 reminded me that you never have to explain yourself, especially to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.
There’s more than likely always going to be somebody who might not understand or respect your decisions, but it’s not your responsibility to explain them. You live your life for yourself, not based on what other people think you should do.
It’s easy to lose yourself in the opinions of others, but those who already don’t understand you are unlikely to respect or understand your dreams, decisions, choices, and desires. It’s not your job to explain why and how you feel, especially because people are always going to have an opinion no matter what choices you make.
2024 taught me to drop the opinions of others. Not everything you do or don’t do needs an explanation, and sometimes it’s learning how to embrace the discomfort that comes along with that for your inner peace.
4. Growth Will Always Teach You A Lesson
When we’re growing, we’re learning. Through some of the hardest and most unimaginable times in our lives, there’s always a lesson, even if it doesn’t make sense to us right away.
It’s taken time for me to learn how to be thankful for the hard times—those times that feel almost impossible to even get through. But something I learned about those hard times throughout 2024 is that they were there for a reason. They taught me things about myself that I needed to learn so that I could continue to grow and evolve into the person that I’m supposed to be.
We would never grow if always we remained planted exactly where we are. Growth feels anything but familiar at times, but sometimes we’ll break before we can feel whole. Growth will always push us outside of our comfort zones, strengthening us and teaching us lessons that we wouldn’t have known otherwise.
5. Even On Hard Days, You Only Have To Push Forward
One recurring phrase to me throughout 2024 was that the only way out is through.
Even on hard days, and the days that feel impossible, we always have to continue pushing forward—because the only way out of those hard times is through.
You won’t always feel like pushing forward, but you’ll often find strength in the moments when it feels impossible to keep going. Not everything will make sense when you’re going through it, but even if you feel broken, it doesn’t mean that you won’t feel whole again one day. I truly believe that life never hands us more than we can handle, even if in those moments we’re unsure how we’ll make it through.
2024 taught me the importance of pushing through no matter how you feel because you’ll always make it to the other side. We might not feel capable of the strength we have, but it’ll always be there when we need it. The best things usually come right after the worst times in our lives, and we never know what’s waiting for us around the corner. And remember—even on the hard days, you never have to re-live the same day twice.
6. Rest Is Productive Too
This was a lesson I learned the hard way in 2024. Being productive doesn’t mean that you have to overexert yourself all the time, or be ‘on’ all the time to be successful.
One of my favorite quotes I read this year was: “If you don’t take a break, your body will take it for you.” There are times to be busy and productive, but there are also times when your body needs that much-needed rest. I felt completely overwhelmed at the beginning of the year because I kept putting too much on my plate at once. My mind was constantly fixated on what I needed to do ‘next’, and I was never truly present in the moment I was in.
I realized the only thing that resulted from that was feeling completely burnt out. Rest is productive too, and it’s what our bodies and minds need to feel at our best. It’s learning how to find that balance between what needs to be done, and what we can do to reset when needed. It’s okay to rest, and sometimes it’s exactly what your body needs so that you can essentially be even more productive.
7. It’s Okay To Not Feel Okay
Life is hard. We won’t always feel okay, depending on what we’re going through, and that’s okay.
Instead of convincing yourself that you always have to put on a face that everything’s okay, accept that sometimes it won’t be okay. It’s not to say it won’t feel okay forever, but even acknowledging that you aren’t feeling at your best can feel like a complete weight lifted off your shoulders.
We all go through hard times. Sometimes things will get worse before they get better. Rather than focusing on whether you feel strong or weak, the most important thing is learning how to press through the pain because there’s always joy waiting on the other side.
Things might not always feel okay, and that’s okay. Acknowledge how you feel and make space for those feelings because eventually things will get better.
8. Sometimes The Best Decisions Are Made For You By Other People
I mentioned this quote in one of my previous articles, but ever since I first came across it, I was drawn to it: “Sometimes the best decisions in life are made for you by other people.”
Whether it’s a ‘no’, a ‘not yet’, or an unexpected door closing, sometimes those rejections are what set us on the path we’re meant to be on.
Not everything will always make sense when we’re going through it, no matter how much we try to understand it. But we have to get to a place where we trust that no matter what happens, there’s a reason for it.
We often look inward and criticize ourselves, wondering what’s wrong with us when something doesn’t go as planned or meet our expectations. But if it weren’t for things not working out how we thought we wanted them to—we would never end up where we’re meant to be.
Some day, when we least expect it, we’ll receive the answers we were searching for all along. And when that day comes, we’ll realize that sometimes the best decisions really are made for us by other people. We’ll be thankful for those closed doors because they ending up leading us exactly where we needed to be.
9. All It Takes Is A Single Moment For Things To Change In Your Life
Even if things appear one way, 2024 taught me that all it takes is a single moment for things to change.
I realized that while I’m waiting for the things I want to see happening in my life, I’m currently living what I once hoped for years ago. Sometimes, when life doesn’t progress at the speed we thought it would, it can feel like nothing is happening at all. But even if the pace is slower than we’d like, it doesn’t mean that the things we’re hoping or believing for won’t come at the right time.
All it takes is a moment for things to change. You might feel frustrated during the wait, but learning to appreciate where you are will always bring you more.
There’s purpose in your waiting, and sometimes trust requires unanswered questions—especially if you’re wondering why something isn’t happening in the time you thought it would. In the end, you’ll more than likely see that you were growing and evolving all along, and things turned out even better than you once envisioned.
10. Your Emotions Aren’t Facts
Our emotions can get the best of us, especially when we’re deep in how we’re feeling, and it’s hard to see beyond that.
But your emotions aren’t facts, and neither are your feelings. Even if you think or feel a certain way, it doesn’t mean that it’s the truth. You can be feeling one way when the truth is actually the complete opposite.
That’s why I truly believe that writing down our thoughts can help us separate our emotions from facts. Throughout 2024 there were multiple times when I realized just because I thought something was true, it didn’t mean that it actually was. We can be our worst critics and get in our heads, when half the time what we tell ourselves ends up not even being the truth.
Regardless of how you currently feel, remember that emotions aren’t facts. They can be misleading, so it’s important to take a step back to reflect on your thoughts and remind yourself of what’s true.
2024 was a year of growth, change, love, hope, and resilience. Even if it felt like a year of challenges and grief, never forget that you can still find hope for what’s to come. So here’s to the last of the year, and to hoping that 2025 is even better.
