2014: A Fond Farewell

The cover flips shut and there it sits, face down on the table. The book of 2014, my book of 2014.

2014 is over. How did that happen?

While it's been another year that has flown by, 2014 was long in the best way and for the first time I feel like I can honestly say, I've grown up. I can recognise it in myself, I've grown, and I've come out the other side a stronger person, and hopefully, a fuller person.

• I've officially graduated university. I have a degree, to go on with as I choose, and memories and friends that will stay with me forever.
• I've made mistakes, owned up to them and dealt with their consequences.
• I was wise enough to say "No. Letting him kiss me is not a good idea right now."
• I was brave enough to say, 'do you know what, I'm going to do with my future what I want to do, not what society expects.'
• I learned how to make time for friends, and know that no matter how far away they were, it didn't make them less important to me. I now have lifetime friends all over the country, from London to Liverpool to Manchester to Yorkshire. 
• I fell in love with sport as I volunteered at the event of a lifetime, and took a plunge into the unknown as I signed up for the next Commonwealth games in the Gold Coast.
• Girls, I went down another clothing size. Jeez. Skinny jeans? Come at me.
• I learned that it didn't matter how long you knew someone for, it was the quality of the friendship they brought you. Here's looking at you my handful of wonderful work pals and fellow clydesiders.
• I learned that heartbreak doesnt break you. Not really. It's hard, but you will get through it, all of us survivors promise you that.
• And I recently learned that no matter the mistakes they made, it wasn't my place to judge or distance. I am their friend and I will be there for them, as I hope they will be for me if I ever need it.

So here's to 2015. A year of seeing friends old and new, far and wide. To job interviews, adventures and goodbyes. 

And that will be the crux. While I cannot wait for my adventure to begin, saying farewell to the year I became who I am will be nothing compared to saying farewell to the people who made me who I am. I will be leaving my job behind - or more importantly, the people I work with. I'll be leaving behind any opportunity to jump on a train south and see my friends. I'll be leaving both my parents on their own - a difficult thing to comprehend and admit - and I'll be leaving my wonderful city.

But I'll be seeing the world. I'll be travelling a continent I fell in love with in 2013, learning how to say hello and thank you in a dozen different languages. I'll be popping down to Australia and visiting the brother in Sydney I miss every single day. I even plan to pop over to New Zealand and geek out in Hobbiton (yes I just admitted that.)

So I raise my glass (naturally with champagne in it) to all of you. Happy New Year to all you wonderful people. I wish you all the best in your own adventures, whether it be travel, work, a new family, school or just getting through the next uni term with money left over.

I thank you all for making 2014 the special year it was.

Time to open the front cover on a blank page, and while I sale shop for the things I need for my ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME, I realise I've already started writing. I hope you do too.

Sarah x