Just recently, I turned twenty years old. A milestone, it's hard to believe that I'm practically an adult. As an homage to twenty years, below are twenty things that I have learned on this Earth.
1.One bad day doesn't mean your life is over. Some days are going to be amazing, some days are going to not be. Taking each day one day at a time is something that is going to happen. Don't let one thing bring you down, because there's always going to be better days ahead.
2. Take advantage of early mornings and late nights. As someone who can go on four hours of sleep, it's best to not only be able to see the sunrise some days but to be up late at night as well. There is a full day ahead of you and it might be great to start it early and conquer it as best as you can.
3. Be yourself...never be ashamed of who you are. Most of my life, I never really let the real me out. It's important to be yourself because people will like you for who you are. If they don't that's not your fault. Be your unique self.
4. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You never really know if you like something unless you step out of your comfort zone. For me, I've always been a very shy and going to high school and coming to college I knew that I would have to eventually talk to people. Without stepping out of my comfort zone, I wouldn't have been able to even survive living on campus or even ask questions.
5. Treat yourself every once and awhile. I believe in always rewarding yourself with whatever you do. Sometimes you can be having a rough day, rewarding yourself even in the toughest of times is a good thing. Treating yourself keeps you sane, and it also motivates you to keep doing better. Anything from a small nap, to eating a cookie can be rewarding for even a short amount of time.
6. Enjoy the little things. This explains itself. Sometimes we take for granted the things that we have in life and never truly appreciate it until its gone.
7. Say Thank You. When I was little, I read the book The Last Lecture the author Randy Pausch taught me that hand-written thank you notes are always sincere and sentimental. I not only appreciate writing thank you notes, but even saying thank you to whoever I can. It makes people's day hearing something like that.
8. Find your group of friends. It's hard finding a group of people can you can call friends. As you grow older, you start to realize that you don't need so many friends. Since coming to college, I have some people that I talk too but, having a core group of friends is something that I'll always have.
9. Give people as many chances as you can. There are always going to be people that will make mistakes that will make you question if you should forgive them. I tend to forgive people easily because I always believe in the best of people. This usually doesn't do that great but, the one thing that I've realized is that one mistake can't define a person. Chances are a big thing in my book; giving someone an extra shot means that you see the good in others.
10. Sometimes you have to let people go. Even though I'm one for giving people chances, I've also learned that sometimes, people can be bad for your wellbeing and sometimes, that means you have to let them go. You only want people who are going to help you be the best that you can be and sometimes, people aren't going to be like that for you.
11. Have a group of people who are there for you, and you for them. Getting older, I started to realize that people who want you around are going to be the people that you want around too. Having values, understanding those values with your friends is something that everyone is going to experience. Know who's valuable for you and if your values match theirs.
12. Do things with all that you got. Put in 110% of yourself into whatever you are doing. Knowing that you gave it your all means.
13. Always try something new. You honestly will never know if you enjoy something.
14. Be spontaneous as often as you can. Doing something out of the blue might not be on your schedule, but sometimes having a spontaneous trip might make your day a bit better.
15. You're allowed to believe what you want to believe. Whatever keeps you going, no matter if it's God or a higher being, whatever you believe in you're allowed to believe. Never change your beliefs for someone else.
16. Sometimes it's okay to not have a plan. You're allowed to wander around in life not knowing what you want to do. Being so young, you don't need to have a definite plan. Even if you're older, you don't need a definite plan. Sometimes you're allowed to change what you want to do, as long as it makes you happy.
17. Love yourself; know your self-worth. Before you can love anything else, you have to love yourself. Know that you're a wonderful the way that you are and that you're allowed to have self-worth. Self-worth can mean anything but, loving yourself is major.
18. Never change for the people around you. Being original and unique means a lot to yourself. Pretending to be someone else, changing because people expect a certain personality about you doesn't make you be yourself.
19. Be honest whenever you can be. The truth might hurt, but honesty and authenticity makes you not anxious about things, but as they say, honesty is the best policy.
20. Be Happy. Write down three things each day. Someone great once told me that there's always something in the day that makes you happy. Write three things down at the end of each day, and you'll realize that everyday is a good day, even if it doesn't seem at first.
