In 2018, I hope you let go. I hope you let go of the idea that you’re not enough, that you are always just that little bit behind everyone else. I hope you stop comparing yourself to your friends and strangers who seem to have everything. I hope you let go of the thought that you have to have absolutely everything by the time you’re 30. I hope you learn that everyone goes through life at different rates, that winning the race to a mortgage or an engagement or a puppy, does not define you. I hope you realise that to keep moving, no matter how quickly, is still a success in itself.
In 2018, I hope you let go of the pain 2017 brought you. I hope you learn to see it as an experience which taught you and helped you to grow, I hope you see that another puncture to the heart does not break it completely. I hope you can still see yourself as whole. I hope you can overcome this belief that someone else’s mistake means you aren’t worthy, loveable or beautiful. I hope you can learn to push away negativity instead of breathing it in. I hope you let go of that voice which whispers to you late at night, which tells you deserved it. That it might happen again.
In 2018, I hope you can let go of your mistakes and failures, no matter how big or small. I hope you can learn to forgive yourself for not being perfect. I hope you can look in the mirror and be proud of the woman looking back. I hope you can see the strength in her eyes, the determination, the power. I hope you can tell yourself that life is difficult sometimes, that there are always obstacles, that you cannot always be your absolute best but you can get pretty damn close.
In 2018, I hope you can learn to just be. To let go of this notion that there is always something you need to be better at or achieve, or have right now. I hope you can take each day as it comes, each moment as it is upon you, each feeling as it radiates throughout your body. I hope you can see your life from the outside, I hope you can enjoy the warmth on a summer’s evening with a glass of wine in one hand and a good book in the other, with absolutely nowhere else you would rather or need to be.
In 2018, I hope you can let go of this idea that you need to be happy all of the time, that sadness is for the weak. I hope you can accept your blue days just like the rest of them. I hope you can allow yourself to heal, to recover, to recharge. I hope you can stop punishing yourself for feeling beat down by life and all of its demands and disappointments. I hope you can accept that it’s okay not to be okay, in fact sometimes it’s needed because self-care is important, because you are.
In 2018, I hope you can let go of this nagging feeling that it will be just the same. That you will find yourself in this exact position in 365 days. That you will look back on another year where you feel as if you have let yourself and others down. I hope you can let go of this hopelessness which exists inside of you which tells you nothing good will happen to you. I hope you can begin to accept that good things come to those who wait and incredible things happen to those who fight for it. And you do.
In 2018, I hope you can let go of everything inside your mind which keeps you back, which doesn’t realize how far you will go. Maybe it wasn’t this year, maybe it won’t be next, but you will get there.
In 2018, I hope you know that. 
