I'm pretty sure that my 26th year is the most eventful year of my life, it was full of surprises and moments I thought I would never recover from but here I am - stronger, wiser and better! Here are 27 things I learned before I turned 27: 1. You make time for the people you love. You can never be too busy, you don't "find time" when it would be convenient for you, you have to really make an effort. No alibis, no excuses. I don't want to be that person who will be too busy for people and won't matter anymore so I make sure that I make time for the people I love. 2. Choose your battles wisely. Some are not worth it. Will this matter few years from now? No? Then okay, move on and be done with it. 3. Showing up everyday is half the battle won. 4. It's not too late to pursue your passion or whatever you've always wanted to do. I've always envy women who are good in doing make-up. Then one day, I just thought "Okay, so why not?" , I bought make-up tools and practiced everyday. I constantly ask advice from my friends and watch tutorials online. Right now, I think I'm getting the hang of it, I'm nowhere good as professional ones but I'm learning :) 5. Drinks lots and lots of water. 6. It's normal to feel tired. If there's something that we can always take back - it's our energy. When I feel tired, I step back, breathe, rest / travel / eat and when I recover, I jump back right in again. It's okay to be tired, you're human and you need rest ;) 7. It's okay to say no. I don't have to be okay with everything, I learned how to say no and not put up to something I'm not comfortable or okay with. 8. Be mindful of social cues. These are verbal and non-verbal signals in our everyday interactions. I have been more mindful and observant of these. It helps me in being more sensitive on handling the situation and also, knowing the good or bad motives of people. 9. Self care is important. I take time for myself, I try to make healthy food decisions and once in a while, I reward myself for the hard work that I do. 10. You can't do everything and that's okay. I tried and it didn't work. I learned to take it slow meaning you can't finish everything in one go or you can't do everything all at once. I learning phasing is important and I should not be afraid to ask help. 11. The only constant thing in the world is change. I realized that plans may change but never the goal. No matter how the universe shake things up, set your eyes on the goal. Be flexible in your plan. Learn how to roll with the punches. 12. Laugh at yourself. I used to cringe with the things I did before and now, I laugh at myself. I know my self worth and I am not afraid to make mistakes because I know that I can handle it. 13. If you're not okay with something, change it. These are for the situations and things that you can control, if it's not okay with you then do not tolerate it, change it. Change it slowly, one step at a time until you get to reach that point where you have changed it completely. 14. Create your own opportunities. 15. Taking big risks results to bigger consequences. Some of the risks I took the past years are life-changing and surprising, the consequences were not always rewards, some were challenges but either way, I learned from it. 16. YOU DO YOU. You don't need validation from people. Some would say this is the narcissistic characteristic of millennials but this has taught me individuality. Not everyone will like me and I'm okay with that. I'm not here to please everyone. Whatever their opinion is, then that's on them. As long as you know who you are, what they think/say don't matter. Again, you do you :) 17. It's okay to let go of relationship and friendships. People outgrow each other and they grow apart - a hard truth in life. No matter how much I love the person, I needed to accept that they will no longer be part of the next phase of my life. I will always appreciate and look back on how important they were but that's just it, it's part of growing up. 18. Keep moving forward. When the going gets tough and the tough gets going, just keep moving forward. It has been liberating to feel that I am not defined by the times that I fell rather it taught me that I can handle whatever setback I have. 19. Everything happens for a reason. Struggles and pain helped me grow. Looking back, I could never imagine myself being in that same shitty situation but it got me where I am now. 20. It's okay to be sad. I had anxiety and really bad anxiety attacks - not being able to sleep, waking up at 3 am with so many worries on my mind, crying in the shower, breaking down in the middle of the day and having to constantly worry about unnecessary things. I struggled with it but I got through it. No one actually knew about it, only Sky, my best friend. She told me "Mon, you're stronger than you think" and I was, I am. I show up everyday - ready to face each day. 21. Good food. Good mood. I try to eat healthy everyday but once in a while, I get to YOLO with food and drinks (huhuhu) For me, good food does not always have to be expensive but good food are the meals shared with people you love over laughter and stories. One thing that I had growing up was good food at home, my mom's home cooked meals while my dad introduced me to good restaurants, maybe that's why I have a well-developed palate (I would think so). 22. Small circle of loyal and true friends. If you see my photos online - I'm always with the same people because I learned that I don't need many, I just need few friends who are loyal and true. People who are constantly praying for me, tells me I'm wrong and yet helps me grow and lastly, people who never judged me but loved me even more. They keep me strong, positive and sane :) 23. A stronger relationship with God. I am not a traditional Catholic but my parents are. I studied in Catholic schools since Kinder but what I learned growing up is that more than the religion, the relationship with God is more important. 24. Family is everything. Nothing like "learning the hard way" experiences will make you realize how blessed you are to have them. At the end of the week, I always look forward to going home and being with my family. We went through a lot of struggles and we will still face a lot of challenges in the future but I'm sure that whatever it is, we'll make it because we are stronger now and we will face it together. 25. Every next level of your life will demand a different you. 26. Sometimes all you need is insane courage and bravery. I'm good with comfort and security but I also like taking risks and diving into the unknown. There were moments when I needed to just be brave to dive right in, some were listed under the best moments in my life and some demanded me to be really strong all throughout until I finally got out of the water. And lastly, 27. The best is yet to come. Here's to learning and making the most of our everything. Cheers! xoxo, M
1 Comment
Taylor
8/28/2019 07:57:57 pm
Really enjoyed reading this post!
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She wonders and wandersMonica writes about her life, what she eats, what she reads and where she goes. This space is where her thoughts, experiences, memories and feelings turn into words. She's glad that she can share with you. Archives
August 2021
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