IT’S MY BIRTHDAY- 26 LESSONS I’VE LEARNED

*Dress (Faviana) | Location (Hotel on Rivington)

I am so happy to announce that I have successfully achieved all my January goals, with my birthday editorial shoot being the last. I just turned 26, which is an exciting time of year, but also a bit scary as I realized I am actually an adult! The older I grow, the more mature I become and it’s amazing how much I’ve learned within the last year. I didn’t want this post to be too similar to my last post of 2017, in which I wrote about 10 lessons I’ve learned in 2017, but I think this post is different in regards to what I’ve learned throughout my time on this planet, rather than just within 12 months.

Before I dive into the lessons, I also wanted to share my recap of the celebrations that happened this weekend. Feel free to watch the behind the scenes of this editorial shoot as well as my birthday vlog. Again, I would totally appreciate it if you guys can like and subscribe!

Some of these lessons might sound familiar and might be cliche, but I think these are the important lessons that have shaped me to the woman I am today. They also relate to my values, goals and overall insight to life:

1. Happiness comes from within: This one might sound pretty obvious, but I have finally come to terms with finding value in my life and that really stems from finding happiness within myself. I think it’s important to surround yourself with positive people, but at the end of the day, you should never depend on somebody else to make you happy.
2. Love yourself: I used to want to achieve certain features like abs for the summer, but I have finally learned to love myself, both physically and emotionally. I am very comfortable in my own skin and that is a liberating and powerful feeling.
3. Accept your flaws: This is similar to loving yourself, but I feel like in order to truly be happy with your body, you need to accept your flaws. Nobody is perfect and we all have things that we might want to change, but since we can’t, we should just accept them.
4. Stop being a people pleaser: I must admit that I used to be a people pleaser, but I have come to realized that it’s important to put yourself first and there’s nothing wrong with saying no.
5. See the bigger picture: I get irritated easily and usually my frustration stems from things that I cannot control. Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture has helped me to reframe difficult situations.
6. Go with the flow: I love being on a schedule, but sometimes life doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, I need to just go with the flow instead of trying to fight life’s direction for me.
7. Remove yourself from negativity: Negative energy is contagious and I refuse to surround myself with it. If there’s negative people in your life, you need to cut them out.
8. Things change, people change: I’m sure we’ve all heard this before, but it’s true. We all have different phases in our lives and it’s okay to grow apart from people that we once were close to.
9. Embrace change: Likewise, life is full of changes. I don’t often like them, but I have learned to embrace them because most of the time, change is for the best.
10. Take risks: I love being out of my comfort zone because that’s when growth happens the most.
11. Don’t take things too personally: I used to get all frazzled up with people’s actions and behaviors but sometimes you just have to let it go and not take things too personally.
12. Eat Healthy: This wasn’t a lesson that was hard for me to learn since I’ve always valued nutrition, but now that I am older, I definitely enjoy eating healthy and seeing the benefits.
13. Health should be your #1 priority: Speaking of health, I have truly valued its importance in our life. If you don’t have your health, then you don’t have anything.
14. Put yourself first: Need I say more?
15. Everything happens for a reason: When something doesn’t go my way, instead of getting mad, I just take it as it is because when you adopt the mentality of everything happens for a reason, it is much easier to accept it and move on.
16. Not everybody will like you: Going back to stop being a people pleaser, I have learned that no matter how nice you are, some people still won’t like you and that’s fine. You don’t live your life to be please others.
17. Be confident: I wasn’t always confident in my beliefs, values or presence, but I have come to learn to live confidently because it’s a trait that will definitely take you far.
18. Stop comparing yourself to others: Honestly, when you grow older, you realize that we all live different lives, and it’s a waste of time to compare yourself to others.
19. Practice gratitude: Read my previous post about being mindful for more depth on this topic here.
20. Karma exists: No bad deed goes unpunished and I’m sure we’ve all done bad things in our lives before. I truly believe karma exists and this allows me to be the best version of myself everyday.
21. Sh*t happens: This is life, sh*t happens. We just have to learn how to deal with it because it’s not always rainbows and roses.
22. What you put out in the world is what you get back: This is my motto in life. I cannot reiterate how much truth this holds.
23. It’s okay to deviate from your timeline: I know a lot of us are guilty of this, but I used to have a timeline of when I wanted to get marry, have babies, etc. Now that I am 26, I’ve learned to toss that timeline out the window. We all have different paths and phases we go through and it’s not healthy to compare our life to the timeline we’ve created in our lives.
24. Skincare is important: If you don’t want wrinkles, then start taking care of your skin now. Eye cream is extremely important and don’t forget SPF!
25. Fake it till you make it: I know some people might not agree with this, but I actually think fake it till you make it helps to overcome uncertainty in your life.
26. Just go for it: I can’t even tell you guys how many times I was scared to do something or say something because I lacked the confidence to do so. I’ve realized life is short, we only live once, so if there’s something that you’re afraid to do, don’t be and just go for it. If you are unhappy with your job and want to quit, just go for it. If you want to express your feelings to a friend or loved one, but are hesitant, just go for it. The worst thing that can happen is the opposite of what you want or hope, but that’s life. You will move on and learn.

As I was writing all these lessons, I had a sense of gratitude that came within me and I am so happy to be alive. As cheesy as that sounds, I am thrilled to live yet another year and know that I have a lot of positive things that await me. It’s amazing how much can happen in a year, but age also affects your experiences. I am looking forward to living my best year yet because I have high hopes for 26!