2024, Obrigado por todos os erros

2024, foi um prazer.

We had a long ride of ups and downs—maybe more downs than ups, but it had to be like that. I get it. I had to learn all the lessons you wanted to teach me.

Nós, este ano e eu, tínhamos de o terminar em grande. Caso contrário, não teria aprendido nada.

I had to lose so many things in order to appreciate what was coming. I had to hit rock bottom to learn to rise again—stronger, smarter, better.

You’ve let me make one mistake after another because you wanted to teach me a lesson. You wanted me to never do that again.

Now that your and my chapter is coming to an end, I’m not angry anymore. I was in the beginning. I couldn’t accept what was happening to me. I couldn’t accept so many bad things coming one after the other.

I couldn’t believe it was all happening at the same time, like a chain reaction that had no intention of stopping.

Agora, percebo que tudo o que estava a passar era por uma razão. All the mistakes I’ve made were paving the road to a happier future. I just couldn’t see it right away. But I know it now.

I was so scared of endings. I was dreading goodbyes. They meant something was over, and over means sadness. It means loneliness. But what I didn’t see was that with every ending starts something new.

Endings don’t have to be depressing and hurtful. Endings mean that something different is going to happen.

Algo diferente significa mudança, e a mudança é boa porque depois de cada capítulo encerrado vem outro.

And it’s up to me to decide whether that chapter is going to take a turn for worse than I’ve already felt or for the better. It’s up to all of us. We make our own destinies.

2024, ensinaste-me a acreditar em mim quando eu estava mais insegura. Ensinaste-me a levantar e a lutar quando tudo o que eu queria fazer era rastejar para a cama e nunca mais me levantar.

Fizeste-me ouvir aquela vozinha interior que não parava de dizer: “Try, be better, be stronger, try harder!”

Desafiou-me e obrigou-me a atingir os meus limites, a ver realmente o que era capaz de fazer. Tirou-me da minha zona de conforto e fez-me enfrentar os meus medos em vez de fugir. Obrigada por isso.

During this year, I’ve learned what it really means to be brave and take advantage of all the possibilities I have in front of me. I just had to grab every moment I thought would bring me change. A change for the better.

I’ve learned that you cannot be stuck in the past. You have to look ahead because if you don’t seize the moment that is coming, that moment will never come back. It’s better to go for it than to miss out on it and regret it for the rest of your life.

2024, ensinou-me a viver o presente, a esquecer o passado e a olhar para o futuro.

You’ve taught me that every mistake I made was for a reason. Every wrong move I made led me to something new. I just didn’t see it then.

2024, the mistakes I’ve made brought me to my breaking point, but the strength I’ve gained made me get passed it.

Dear 2024, you’ve thrown me surprises I didn’t expect. You’ve tossed me into a horrible storm with wind throwing me back and forth. You’ve ridden me on emotional roller coasters and brought me to destruction.

But dear 2024, you’ve also given me hope, optimism, and faith that I can survive all the bad luck and the lousy hand of cards I was given.

Porque, como vêem, aqui estou eu, no final de mais um ano, à espera de começar mais uma história das muitas que ainda estão para vir.

Throughout out the turbulent times, millions of things happening all of a sudden, you didn’t beat me down the whole way. You still decided to show me there is always a way out, that there is always a solution.

Deste-me a força que eu não sabia que tinha. Ensinaste-me lições que nunca esquecerei.

2024, I’m sad you’re coming to an end because that means I’m leaving the past in the past. But 2024, I’m happy that you’re finally over because that means I get to do things all over again. I get a fresh start.

I can do whatever my heart wants. I can pursue my dreams. I can let go of things I don’t want to remember.

2024, thank you for all the mistakes I’ve made. Thank you for helping me become a different person than I was a year ago.