At the beginning of the year, I chose three words to grow in and help guide me throughout 2015: blossom, love, and fearless. It’s been a long year and a lot has happened. For a few of my highlight, I…

1. Started freelancing.
2. Joined a soccer team.
3. Made many new friends and deepened old relationships.
4. Traveled locally and internationally.
5. Started training to become a yoga teacher.
6. Moved out of my parent’s house.

Some not so great things happened as well. I dealt with drama, broken friendships, injuries, and illnesses. But it’s the mix of good and bad that make us who we are.

Here’s how each of the words I chose were reflected throughout 2015:

Blossom
2014 was a hard year for me, but by the end I was finally able to let go of many things that had been holding me back. Coming into 2015, I felt like I was able to “blossom” and grow in areas that I had previously been stifling. I was able to pursue passions and goals I hadn’t previously made time for like freelancing, yoga teacher training, and trying new sports.

Love
This was the hardest quality for me to work on this year — there were a lot of times that it was tempting (and easy) to be judgmental or hypercritical of people in my life whom I had issues with. But I’ve been learning what it looks like to love and forgive people, even if I don’t entirely trust or understand them. Love is the overall commandment and theme of the Bible, so it is something I will always be working on, but I am learning how complicated and multidimensional love is.

Fearless
By far, fearlessness became the overall theme of this year, in both little decisions and big ones. “Be fearless” became a personal mantra for me, and whenever I was faced with a decision that I wasn’t sure about, I’d remind myself of why I chose that word. It helped me make decisions I was on the fence about without regret — starting yoga training, moving into a community house, booking tickets to Iceland and Cancun, etc. Having put the idea of fearlessness in my mind already, it made it easier for me to cultivate that quality in my life.

What about you? How have you grown over the past year?