Hello, Thirty

Balloons from my birthday dinner!

I recently turned the big three-oh! Hitting 30 is quite the milestone: we’re done with school, start to make significant strides in our career, and are finally on a path of self-understanding and self love. No lies here, I won’t say I wasn’t terrified, because I was. Thirty: I’m an adult, an actual adult now. Gone were my twenties: the time where recklessness was given a pass, and people threw around the term “youth” at us. However,  I realised that ‘youth’ in its simplest meaning isn’t what defined me. I am not my age. I looked back at my twenties, and it was a decade filled with ups and downs, and an insane amount of learning curves – for all that, I’m grateful.

Where do I see myself in 10 years? I don’t know! Do you? Does anyone, really? I personally don’t believe in putting together 5 and 10 year plans; they’re more of an obstacle – a hinderance even – to any potential a person can really achieve. What I’d really like to do is spend the upcoming decade living in the here and now and not try to contain myself in a box chock-filled with cookie-cutter expectations. People change, thoughts change, and I don’t want to limit myself to turning into a person I may have wanted to be at one point or the other. I’m pretty excited about what my thirties have in store for me – whatever it may be – so bring.it.on!

To wrap up, here’s a list of 30 things I wish I could’ve told my 20 year-old self, and things I’ve learnt over the last decade:

1. Love yourself.
2. Don’t be scared to be different and do things differently.
3. Always try to be the best person you can be.
4. Don’t dwell or hold grudges.
5. Never compare yourself to others.
6. Be you! Don’t be ashamed of who you are.
7. If you fail, try again, and again…and again.
8. Appreciate your parents and what they’ve done for you.
9. It’s okay to be vulnerable; allow others to see you at your worst.
10. Nothing is impossible.
11. Never bottle up your emotions. Cry, kick, scream, and shout if you have to.
12. Laugh your heart out. Laugh lines are a sign of a life well lived.
13. Exercise more. It’s fun (promise!).
14. Tell your family you love them.
15. Friends are the family we choose – pick them wisely.
16. Travel more. It’s both enriching and humbling.
17. Learn to forgive (even without an apology).
18. Don’t harbour negative feelings, they will only make you feel worse.
19. Change is growth.
20. Never lose your passion, no matter what it is.
21. Make sure your job doesn’t interfere with the more important things in life: your health, relationships, and passion.
22. Always look at the bigger picture.
23. Put good out there and you will be rewarded.
24. Hold on to and learn from people who help you bring out the best version of yourself.
25. If it seems too good to be true, it most probably is. But hey, a learning curve’s a learning curve!
26. Own up to your mistakes, and celebrate your successes.
27. Yoda said it best, “Do or do not, there is no try.”
28. It’s the small things in life that count; learn to appreciate them.
29. Make an effort at everything you attempt.
30. Love.