The last day of my 20's!
Well today is the last day of my 20's. Come tomorrow I embark on the next decade... my 30's! Turning 30 freaks me out slightly. It feels like the end of my youth. Ok ok over dramatic and all those past their 30's will roll their eyes at my seemingly misplaced youthful panic, but just as turning 21 seemed like a milestone, so does the big three oh! I feel like I'm supposed to grow up and act sensible now I'm no longer 20-something. But, I'm also glad to see the back of the last ten years. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't have changed any of it. I learnt so much. But my 20's haven't been the happiest years of my life and I'm ready to start a new chapter. Looking back at me at 20 it's amazing how much I've changed, and how much my outlook on life has changed. Over the past 10 years I feel like I've travelled a long journey and have finally found myself, mostly over the past 4 years. The first 6 were me fumbling around blindly making numerous mistakes and not learning. So what did my 20's teach me?
Well, listen to me in my wizened old age. I'm sure come another 10 years I'll be able to add to this list, and review the above with experienced eyes, probably rolling them at my naivety. But I think there's a few gems of truth in there. Overall, if there's one all important thing I've learnt in the past 10 years, it's this. Positivity is the key to all. Luck, love, success and happiness. Without a positive outlook on life, you'll never truly achieve any of those, or maintain them. It sounds simple, but I'm glad I learnt it in my 20's so I'm able to carry it through the rest of my life, rather than learning such a simple but important lesson later. I spent so much of my early 20's complaining that nothing good ever happened to me. And I admit, life was bumpy. But I was self fulfilling my own destiny. I was spending so much energy on all the horrible negative things that were happening to me, that I was attracting more of the same. And at the same time, I was missing all the good things that were crossing my path, because my minds eye was fixated on the terrible. Even now, I could look back on my 20's and say god, what an awful time I had. How I suffered. blah blah. But even that in itself would be a negative view of things. Instead I prefer to think that my early 20's were a journey towards realisation that positivity was key. Without experiencing the things I did, I would never have realised this. Without all the failed relationships, I'd never have been able to notice and cherish the perfect one when it came along. I could chuck in a ton of clichés, about how every cloud has a silver lining, and everything happens for a reason, and people could shake their heads and accuse me of writing pure rubbish. But the truth is that the two go hand in hand. It's the same thing. It's just how you interpret it. So that's the big lesson I learnt in my 20's. Now I can't wait to start learning and enjoying my 30's!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- People are mean to other people because of their own insecurities. If they call you fat, ugly or stupid, it's not because they hate you. It's because they hate themselves.
- In the same vein, if a partner is controlling or abusive, it's because they are insecure, feel that you're actually too good for them and frightened you'll work this out and walk away.
- Negativity breeds negativity. Think negative thoughts and you inspire negative deeds. You are the prophet of your own destiny. If all you focus on is all the bad things in your life, you miss the good things. Focus on the good and you attract more of the same.
- Plan. Have goals in life. But go with the flow. If life doesn't hand you a house at 25 and a husband and kids by 27, perhaps it's because you weren't ready for them. Good things come to those who wait.
- Don't settle. If you're not happy with a situation, change it. Life is too short, time too precious, to waste on a relationship that isn't right or a job that makes you miserable.
- Look after yourself. You only have one body and it may have seemed indestructible in your teens but it isn't and you have to make it last a lifetime!
- Don't try to be someone you're not for someone else. If you do, you'll end up miserable. Trying to change for someone else means they're not in love with the real you, and eventually they'll work this out. Better to be yourself. If that's not enough for them, they're not the one for you. If it's not enough for you, you shouldn't be with anyone until it is.
- What you conceive to be, can be. If you think you can achieve something, you will. If you believe you'll never achieve something, you never will. What you think can become true, only becomes true because you believed it to be. So only think positive thoughts and outcomes.
- As positivity has such a large role to play on the outcomes of your life, surround yourself with positive things and people. Don't waste your time and love on friends and people who breed negativity. There's only so much repetitive reassurance you can impose on someone else before it becomes damaging to you. Help others to change but draw a line.
- Save save save. But don't be afraid to spend. Sometimes happiness comes at a cost, but the cost is worth it.
Well, listen to me in my wizened old age. I'm sure come another 10 years I'll be able to add to this list, and review the above with experienced eyes, probably rolling them at my naivety. But I think there's a few gems of truth in there. Overall, if there's one all important thing I've learnt in the past 10 years, it's this. Positivity is the key to all. Luck, love, success and happiness. Without a positive outlook on life, you'll never truly achieve any of those, or maintain them. It sounds simple, but I'm glad I learnt it in my 20's so I'm able to carry it through the rest of my life, rather than learning such a simple but important lesson later. I spent so much of my early 20's complaining that nothing good ever happened to me. And I admit, life was bumpy. But I was self fulfilling my own destiny. I was spending so much energy on all the horrible negative things that were happening to me, that I was attracting more of the same. And at the same time, I was missing all the good things that were crossing my path, because my minds eye was fixated on the terrible. Even now, I could look back on my 20's and say god, what an awful time I had. How I suffered. blah blah. But even that in itself would be a negative view of things. Instead I prefer to think that my early 20's were a journey towards realisation that positivity was key. Without experiencing the things I did, I would never have realised this. Without all the failed relationships, I'd never have been able to notice and cherish the perfect one when it came along. I could chuck in a ton of clichés, about how every cloud has a silver lining, and everything happens for a reason, and people could shake their heads and accuse me of writing pure rubbish. But the truth is that the two go hand in hand. It's the same thing. It's just how you interpret it. So that's the big lesson I learnt in my 20's. Now I can't wait to start learning and enjoying my 30's!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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