Hello Lovely Readers!
Where has this year flown by? Do you ever feel like life is passing in a blink of an eye and not just this year. Maybe, I’m feeling that way because this week I turned the big 26. I’m slowly getting into my late twenties and It’s making me reflect a lot about life and my choices.
Funny thing, that I wrote myself a letter back when I was 23-24 years old and I found it while cleaning my bedroom because for one I’m decluttering and also I am ready to move from where I am currently living. It makes me feel so nostalgic that a few years ago I felt like I was getting older and now I am realizing how much wisdom and how much growth has happened since then. Here are the 26 Lessons that I feel like everyone goes through in their 20’s.
1. No one really knows what they are doing
When I was younger (The last two years to be exact) I used to think that adults had their lives figured out and that everyone knew what they were doing with their lives. I’m the first to admit that I do not have my sh!t together. I graduated college and I went into this major depression of not knowing where to go next. Thankfully, time has passed and that has made things a lot easier and given me more clarity, but I’m definitely a work in progress.
2. Success can mean different things to different people
Funny thing is that I still have the same goals now that I did back when I was 10 years old. Going to college taught me to meet people with very different backgrounds from mine. Some peoples definition of success means being able to afford to stay at home with their children, others peoples definition of success might mean being able to send their kids to the best schools, some might mean being able to have a roof over their heads whatever the case was people’s views on life are so different and that’s a good thing.
My definition of success is being able to have a good income to support your family. It also means having the financial means to quit a job if they are not treating you right, it means being able to spend time with family and friends and not have to worry if you should be applying for a job at the moment or not.
3. Enjoy Every Moment because you won’t get it back
I know this sounds like a sappy quote (And maybe it is!), but I don’t care. I completely believe in it which is why I even got a tattoo about it, This Too Shall PassI am a daydreamer, I can’t help that, but at the same time I have to remind myself to bring those dreams into reality and work towards them.
Now that I am about to close a chapter of my life, my early 20’s and also moving out of my college town I find myself in sleepless nights thinking about all the memories made. When I look back at it I just feel grateful. Do you feel that way about your past chapters? If so, think now about a memory and cherish it.
4. Take care of yourself mentally and physically
I’m so glad that I live in a time where there is so much awareness about mental health because growing up in high school and when I went through my first wave of depression that was really hard for me and at the time there wasn’t so much information about mental health and now I’m glad that it’s so normal to talk about.
In college, I also discovered my love for health and fitness. I discovered YouTubers like Kayln Nicholson and Cambria Joy. They made me realize that taking care of yourself physically intern helps you take care of yourself mentally and now I like to be active and be out and about.
5. Get a pet
Do yourself a favor and go to your local animal shelter and rescue a cute little companion. It doesn’t have to be a dog or a cat, it can even be a fish. But getting a pet was one of the greatest things that I did for myself. Hazel and I are like roommates and I know that despite anything she will always be there for me, sometimes it’s just comforting to hold and have a companion and if you live alone I would highly recommend you get a pet, trust me, you’ll thank me later.
6. Indulge in hobbies
When you were a child, were you involved in activities like cheer, soccer, art class, dancing? As an adult, we have to make the conscious choice of signing up for hobbies and always learning new skills so that we are always growing. *This is not sponsored* and it is my honest opinion, one of my favorite things was skillshare. I love learning new skills from learning to paint and also for me learning about house flipping and also blogging were really great. Of course if you want, you can always journal or learn to play a new instrument, etc.
7. Friendships
As you get older you realize that you have to put more effort into friendships from figuring out when you guys will hangout and in your teens you might have had an ever bigger circle. In your 20’s that circle starts shrinking down way more especially if you are not seeing them on the daily. It’s not like in high school where you would all have time to hangout at lunch or you had class together.
8. Always have your goals present
Sometimes it can be hard to follow through on goals when we have no clue where we are going. I’m not talking about knowing what you are going to do for the rest of your life, but being motivated to accomplish something and everyday waking up and trying to accomplish that.
9. Habits are mighty
We talked about setting goals and having them as visible as possible and this is the work that you do each day to do in order to make those dreams a reality. Creating good habits that are ingrained in who you are is great because they are not short spurts of growth but steady growth that lasts. Creating even one small habit every 30 days can make such a difference. One of my favorite YouTubers had a year where he would challenge himself to a habit every month.
10. Get out of your comfort zone
There is this beautiful quote that I read a couple of minutes ago and I decided that it was destiny and that I HAD to put it in here. It said, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there…” and I think that is beautiful and so true. Some people are okay with being in a comfort zone and I was one of those people too, but as you grow up you realize that the best things in life, the best memories and the ones where you were challenged, and where you learned more about yourself from those challenging times.
11. Nourish Yourself
What makes YOU happy, let go of the things that no longer work and move forwards, by keeping hold of something that hasn’t worked and forcing it, it’s never healthy. This was a lesson that I learned the hard way, learn to let go of things.
12. Travel
Of course this is maybe a luxury many of us cannot afford. However, when you have the option to save money for a family trip or even a solo trip, do it. The knowledge, the experience, and the memories are invaluable. I myself haven’t traveled too often, but as I am getting older I would much rather take a trip somewhere than to own the latest clothing item or splurge in other areas of my life.
13. Explore Your Surroundings
I always tried to find the best in all situations and even though I didn’t have money to travel to any fancy place or out of the country or even the state by going and exploring new parts of my neighborhood that gave me a sense of being someplace new. And I also got exercise as I explored my neighborhood, I found a beautiful trail, and as someone who loves looking at real estate, I saw beautiful homes around my area.
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No one knows you better than you
Therefore, no one has known your sorrows, your worries, your joys and accomplishments and therefore no one really knows you but you. So don’t waste time trying to please other people, focus on yourself and your happiness, the right people that are meant for you will show up.
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Cleanse Every Year
I’m not necessarily talking about a food cleanse. Although I should look into the benefits of that. What I am talking about is a social media cleanse. Maybe this might not seem as important but I noticed that I was following people that were probably not the best influence in my life and I was allowing them to influence me. So pay attention to the kinds of media that you consume and be mindful if that is helping you or hurting you.
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Romanticize Your Own Life
Make even the most mundane task interesting. Try lighting a candle and setting up the right mood for your space. Try planning out how your room might look. The goal is that you make the best out of things, and that’s definitely advice that I need to follow myself and that hopefully I’ll get into the habit of doing for myself.
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Love and Choose Kindness despite the obstacles.
This is something that I’ve learned and I feel like most people learn fairly fast as they leave the comfort of their home. Not everyone might have good intentions but that doesn’t mean that you turn around and get even or talk negatively about someone.
18.Let yourself feel those emotions
Whatever they are, feel those emotions. This idea of false positivity is that you have to be positive and happy all the time is a load of bullsh!t. We are all human and we feel sadness and anger like everyone else and we should shove out those feelings just because they aren’t “positive” instead allow yourself to feel crappy because sometimes situations and life are crappy.
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Forgive Yourself
Let’s be honest. We all wish we had a magical button that will let us go back to all the moments in our lives where we wish we had a do over. The reality is another, instead of focusing on what went wrong focus on forgiving yourself and then focus on learning to do better. At the end of the day, we all have this moment to make things better. Focus on that.
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Life is Unfair
As a kid you always think that life has to be fair because you grow up saying to your parents that’s not fair, I want that toy too or I want to go to that field trip too. The reality is a little more hard than that. Sometimes another person gets your dream job or sometimes you don’t get that fairytale ending and it’s part of life knowing that life is not always going to be fair.
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Follow Your Gut
Sometimes we feel stuck between two crossroads and the thought of taking a wrong turn can feel scary, more than scary it can feel like any choice can be deadly to our self-esteem. Follow your gut because when you go from a place of honesty for yourself, you can’t be wrong, even if you are. I know that despite not going after the career I set for myself at 17 and now changing my career path at 25 that I don’t regret the decisions I made at that age.
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You are stronger than you think
Take a look at all of the obstacles that you have already overcome. Even if it seems like something small or like you haven’t accomplished much. You are here today and that within itself is a chance to keep moving forward.
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Be patient
Good things take time, be patient and allow them to find you. This is also something that I am slowly learning, patience. I’m not always the best when it comes to being patient and it’s something that I am working at, but I will hopefully find more patience as I get older.
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If it all fails, try again tomorrow
I’ve been more caring with myself if I don’t check something off my to-do list or if I’m not feeling motivated I allow myself a break and then try again later or If I’m just having a bad day I allow myself to push it till tomorrow.
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Focus on yourself and you’ll see your world transform
It’s not selfish to want the things that you want. Every dream, every thought, every hope was put in your brain for a reason because it’s going to help you get where you are meant to get to.
26. Have Faith
This doesn’t necessarily have to be something religious maybe having faith in yourself or having faith in other people. At this point you have gone Through things that have probably rocked you to your core, who have had an impermeable change on you. Have faith that things will work out, have faith that things get better, have faith in yourself and your abilities.
his has probably been one of my longest posts in a while, but I feel like everything I said here needed to be said because I would have loved to hear from others and learn from their experiences which I why I feel like it’s so important for us to share our pasts and look forward to even more growth.
I just want to say that I am extremely grateful for even just the two or three readers that have shown interest in my content. It means the world to me. Thank you, truly.
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