Some people anxiously wait for the day they are able to blow out their twenty-one birthday candles, while some people absolutely dread it. It’s understandable! Turning twenty-one opens up a part of your life that you never even knew existed. After you become an adult, you realize that you have a huge package of responsibilities, freedoms, and inexplicable independence. It’s the first year that people around you start to view you in a different light; you aren’t that teenager or child that you used to be for your entire life. It’s the first year that you might be hit in the face with the reality that you are an independent being, and that you need to learn how to live this complicated, mountainous thing called life. Life is hard, but hopefully these 21 life lessons will help you through it.
1. Learn to understand that life is unfair sometimes.
2. Be nice to everyone you meet. You never know if you'll see them again in the future.
3, Get out of your normal comfort zone once and a while. You can learn a lot about yourself this way.
4. It's inevitable that we all make mistakes. Try to learn from them.
5. Cut off all the toxic people in your life; they’re not worth your time or effort, nor do they deserve it.
6. Keep your loved ones close by making the effort.
7. Call your parents.
8. No matter where you are or what you’re doing in life, people will always try to bring you down. Don’t let their opinions seep into your judgment.
9. Instead of bringing yourself down with your insecurities, learn to love them or how to improve them so they don't hinder you from living to the fullest.
10. Take risks/chances. You never know what could have been if you didn't.
11. You won't make friends if you don't try to make them.
12. Learn to properly prioritize your time for what's important, and understand that everyone's priorities are different.
13. Only do participate in activities because YOU want to do them. Life is too short
to waste time on things that you don't truly want to be doing.
14. When you create goals for yourself, don't let anything get in the way of achieving them.
15. Don’t forget that quality is better than quantity, both in people and in time.
16. Don't be attached to your phone. Enjoy the moment; you might never get that moment again.
17. Don't compare yourself to others. All you can do is be the best you can be and that's what you can offer.
18. Spend your time from now on trying to find your true passions, if you haven't found them already.
19. Learn to listen instead of talk.
20. Learn to appreciate the roadblocks in life; they will only make you become a stronger person.
21. Last but not least, be YOURSELF. No one else is you and you aren't anyone else. Embrace it!
man running in forestPhoto by 
