I won't pretend that being 24 makes me older or wiser in any way. I remember, as a child, thinking that each birthday meant some big change: I would suddenly gain some knowledge I didn't have before right at the stroke of midnight, and it would be what separated me from the age I had been to the age I had become.

Of course that isn't true, and so now having been 24 for just a blink of an eye, I can tell you what I've really learned over the course of the last year or two:

I've learned how to have faith in the midst of a crisis, and how to find joy despite the heaviness that may sit on your shoulders. I've learned how to step back and see the bigger picture, and how to hold my head high and move forward. I've learned about the people in your life who truly matter, and have learned to understand the importance of forgiveness and unconditional love. I've learned that life can be the fullest at the quietest moments, and that you should never take the small things like a handshake or a laugh for granted.

Rather than come up with resolutions or a list of things I want to accomplish between now and 2014, I think my goal will be to just keep going. That notion seems so simple and so obvious, but for those who know me, you know what a struggle that itself has been.

So...onward!