My first summer home from college entails many exciting things from vacations to time for actually relaxing to (most importantly) my 19th birthday on June 28th. While many people deem 19 an insignificant age (it's not a multiple of 5, it's not a new decade, you already can drive, you're already an adult, you can't legally drink yet), I have learned a lot in the 19 years I've been around.
So here are 19 mantras I've learned to embrace and live out before I turned 19:
1. "If I can't find a way, I'll make one."
I've lived by this motto as early as I can remember by maintaining a stubbornness that I can do anything I put my mind to doing. I've accomplished so much more by keeping this "make it happen" attitude.
2. "My attitude determines the reality."
Years ago, I found this quote as part of a poem posted on collegiate runner Olivia Baker's Instagram and, only more recently, have I discovered the degree of truth it holds. The only "reality" there is comes from my own mindset.
3. "Do something."
A long time ago, when I was working on speaking up and becoming my own advocate, I wrote these two words on a sticky note by the bulletin board in my bedroom. I am proud to say that the note is still there today, completely untouched and always reminding me that if there is an outcome I want, I have to do something about it.
4. "Good things take time."
When I take a step back at my nineteen years as a whole, I recognize that the longest-lasting, most valuable things in my life took a very long time to develop. Life unfolds with patience and time.
5. "There is a time and a place for everything."
As someone who has always wanted to plan out and take complete control of her own life, I have to remind myself that the universe often makes the best choices about when and how certain life events happen. My time will come for everything.
6. "Now is a gift. It's the present."
Sometimes life seems horrible and self-pity seems inevitable, but it's important to remember that every breath you take as you live through your "now" is a reminder that you're alive. And being alive is a privilege.
7. "Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend you are. No one can tell the difference."
In my early elementary school years, my mom (who worked in the school) had a magnet in her classroom with this quote. Since then, I have seen how pretending to be brave makes others believe you're brave. And when others believe you're brave, you begin to believe you're brave.
8. "Be you."
This mantra has always been implied in any social skills lesson but it wasn't put so bluntly until after my therapist had passed away and someone read her eulogy. Since then, in her honor, I remind myself, "Be you." The people meant to be in my life will like me as I am.
9. "The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror."
In other words, when I move forward in life, I focus on the big window of what stands in front of me, only sometimes glancing into the mirror that shows the past.
10. "Embrace the excitement of the unpredictability of life."
This is my dad's favorite saying, and I've adopted it as one of mine. There are no guarantees for the future and I have to enjoy wherever life may take me, even if it's somewhere unexpected.
11. "Fingerprints from small acts of kindness can't be wiped away."
Both through how others treat me and how I try to treat others, I see how sometimes the smallest acts of kindness make the biggest impacts. Even if I can't change the entire world, I can change the worlds of as many individuals as I can.
12. "You can always turn back."
Of all of the cheesy posters in my sixth grade classrooms, this quote on one of them resonated with me the most. As I become more independent, I may make decisions that lead me down the wrong road. But I can always turn back and follow the right road.
13. "If you want to change your luck, change your habits."
Unfortunately, I've experienced a great deal of bad luck in the last months leading up to my nineteenth birthday. While these situations may be sucky, I have learned that if I change the way I live my daily life, I could possibly turn around my luck.
14. "You're almost there."
This phrase was in a fortune cookie I had. Since then, I have cultivated a new strength and motivation when I convince myself that I am, indeed, "almost there."
15. "Less talk, more action."
I would be telling a massive lie if I said I never complain, but I also see how complaining very rarely changes any circumstances. It's just talk. Taking action is actually what gets rid of the sources of these complaints.
16. "The strongest people get back up when they fall."
There's no denying that everyone falls at some time, but this saying has helped me become someone who perseveres, not someone who stays on the ground.
17. "Everybody makes mistakes."
I was taught this phrase when I was first beginning to comprehend sentences (and when preschool teachers had to explain the importance of an eraser) but this statement has everlasting relevance when my mistakes become seemingly worse. I can move on from the times I screw up by telling myself that I am not alone.
18. "Yes you can."
I have had to train myself to hear this mantra inside my head (which is hard, no doubt) but has tremendous power when I convince myself that I can achieve something--and I do.
19. "Keep moving forward."
I tell myself this as I have moved past all of my mistakes, as I continue to live out today, and as I will take on the future. I am ready for my twentieth year and all of the surprises that may accompany it!
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