I never fully understood how much could happen and change in just one year. In some ways, I feel like I’m starting from square one. I spent so much of my twenties anxious about reaching certain milestones, and now that I’m into my thirties, I’ve realized how little that all mattered.
Without going into too much detail, my life has changed a considerable amount in the past year. I’ve struggled with sadness, boredom, loneliness, paranoia, wishful thinking, but also I’ve experienced incredible happiness, clarity, and hope.
So as a sort of reflection post, I thought I’d list out (long live millennial listicles!) some of my bigger takeaways from the year.
- People are drawn to happy people – at the end of the day, everybody wants to witness positivity, optimism and hope.
- The brain has an amazing way of self soothing and healing. There was one day that felt a little harder than the rest, but I was gifted a set of emotional but lovely dreams, almost as a way for me to keep moving along.
- The people who care for you and don’t judge right now are the ones that cared and didn’t judge before. I’ve learned how circumstantial some people can be and that cliché – WOW – truly the real ones stick around at your worst. And the rest will float away~
- I always thought I’d be the one to seek people out when in pain, but I’ve realized I really withdraw. So I think I came to appreciate the people that so persistently held a hand out, reminding me that they’d always be there, even if I couldn’t take their hand when they offered it.
- I think feeling joy needs to be an active effort.
- Our parents are from a completely different generation than us. I think I’ve found that the most friction comes from when our world view and perspective differs, but when I accept and internalize the fact they they truly grew up in a different era, things go more smoothly. It’s still hard. ^_^
- Honesty in any given relationship is truly a two-way street. You can only be honest if the other person doesn’t judge. This movement breaks down if one starts lying or the other starts judging.
- I believe no matter how much you dislike or don’t care for someone, there’s a certain level of politeness and cordiality that needs to be maintained between reasonable grown adults.
- My family friend shared with me that she wants me to be happy, but she hopes more for the day that I can feel truly proud of myself. With that in mind, I’ve learned that I feel happiest when I feel loved, unjudged and when I can show my love fully. And I’ve learned I’m proudest when I’m creating or working.
- At any given point, everything can change. Plans mean nothing and at the end of the day, I truly believe intuition is the only reasonable guide I can follow.
- Life has no predictable trajectory.
- The world keeps spinning, even when it feels like my world has stopped.
I truly hope that next year, I can feel a little bit more comfortable and at ease with who and where I am. Thanks for tuning in. 🙂