There’s a trend out there on the World Wide Web to share your photos from 2016. I don’t know where this trend came from or how it started and I managed to ignore it for a little while—until I couldn’t.

I fell for it. And frankly, I’m glad I did.

If it wasn’t for 2016, I likely would not be here today. Strong statement—yes. But it’s not an overstatement.

It’s rare we take photos in our lowest moments. And now with the selfie-craze, not many people are interested in turning the camera on themselves when they don’t feel fabulous. I’m no different.

What I do differently though is refuse to paint life with a rainbows and unicorn lens. This is not fair to me, you, or the people who know me. I’m pretty confident that your life is not all sunshine and pots of gold—so why would mine be?

This is one of the problems with social media and blogging—the pressure to always make life look awesome 24/7/365.

With this caveat in mind, here’s look back to my 2016—it’s brimming with full technicolor goodness all captured with the modern miracle of an iPhone:

I wrote this on Instagram and I’ll repeat it here:

What a year it was. How lucky am I to have been gifted 2016?!

This year really set me up for the rest of my life. Thanks to a brilliant surgeon and his team, I was given a second chance.

Something I try to never take for granted. On the days when it’s grey clouds and racoons in the garbage, I need to remind myself of what a gift it is to be here and to have the day—even when it isn’t picture perfect.

Really, it’s these days that help us appreciate the good and the amazing days.

I’m glad I got sucked into this looking back trend.

It’s funny I’ve just realized I kind of do this looking back thing on a nightly basis. I have a five-year one line a day journal that I’ve been keeping for three years. Every night before bed, I sit down and right one line about my day. I always read the previous years entries and some nights I skip ahead to read a random day.

This little journal is snapshot of my life—what was important enough for me to capture it in that one precious line?

Some days there are just a few words and other days the writing is cramped and small because I had so much to say.

This little journal is a more accurate account of my day than any photo or social media post.