Happy Good Friday!
This year I’m turning 21 on April 28th. And this year, I’m not doing a birthday party like the past 2 years. What I truly want for my birthday remains pretty much the same as my Christmas wish list. Besides that, I’d really like some novelty in my life and to destress about hardbound rules and expectations in general and just. be. free.
Since when did I impose the rule that I have to dedicate time prior to 4:30 p.m. to work only? Granted, it sure has worked and served me the best because I actually get most of my work done during those most productive, creative hours of the day, but also, why do I feel so guilty not following that rule?
Guilt is such an energy sucker, and I need a break from that rule at least a few days a week.
This year for my birthday I’m not going to drink. I’m not interested in alcohol. This year… I’ll list 21 things I’ve learned.
1. Always have something / do something that makes you smile.
2. Pull is better than push when it comes to motivation.
3. The value you put out into the world will return to you in equal amounts. AKA, Law of Attraction.
4. You don’t have to be tired to deem your day successful.
5. Everything happens for you; not to you.
6. If you can change your thoughts, they’ll change your feelings, which will change your actions.
7. The universe is sending you signs. Always.
8. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
9. I actually really do love journaling. Back when I was in elementary school, I try to keep a journal and write in it every single day but it got tiresome and I grew to the test it. Nowadays, I journal because I have an itch to write! I have an itch to hold a pen in my right hand and scrawl, doodle, write words; sentences that are sometimes, and only sometimes, coherent.
10. I need to save enough zest for experiencing pleasure. That means not using all my juices for work, or working out! I need to save zest for social interactions, for enjoying the daylight and seeing the little things in life that seem to pass by all too fast.
11. Bumble is so much better than Tinder! Had I known this last year, I probably would have chosen to download the former rather than the latter. That being said, I don’t regret my Tinder experiences.
12. Stop saving so much money! Wow, that’s the total opposite to my whole life.
13. The friends who truly stick by you are the true ones; others just come and go.
14. You actually need less than you think. Minimalism at its best.
15. Looking at the clock sucks. If you get lost in time, you are truly in flow.
16. Worrying is a huge waste of energy.
17. A beginner’s mind is a beautiful thing. So humble, so innocent, so blank. I could paint anything on it’s canvas.
18. I have to many essential oils and lotions to use up I can’t buy any more!!!
19. Volunteer your time — it’s good to give back 🙂
20. Try something new and arbitrary — so you don’t get anal about your rules!
21. Treat yourself as kindly as you would the little girl version of yourself.
What did you do on your 21st birthday? Which one of these messages resonated with you?