33 Things I Learned In 33 Years

Tomorrow, I will be turning thirty-three years old. As many of you may know, it will be my very first birthday without my mother. She passed away a few months ago and I have been writing about it on and off both here and on Medium ever since. And even though I am acutely aware of it, I will try not to dwell on it. Instead, as per usual, I will reflect on the things I have learned. Or not, as the case may be.

Every year, I do a little write-up about it and this year will be no different. So here they are.

Thirty-three things I have learned over the past thirty-three years. Ambitious, but let’s go for it!

1. You are more accomplished than you think you are

2. You are allowed to leave any social situation you're not comfortable with

3. There is nothing wrong with doing stuff by yourself, and that includes travelling solo and going to the cinema

4. Tell people how you feel about them

5. Don’t be a bystander – speak up

6. People treat you how they feel about you

7. Don’t invite yourself – if they wanted to invite you, they would have

8. You can cut ties with your family if you want to

9. Persistent will get you farther in life than most anything else

10. Set your boundaries and don’t let anybody cross them

11. Do something that is out of your comfort zone at least once a week

12. You don’t have to earn your ‘me-time’. Have it whenever you want

13. Surround yourself with positivity

14. There is no such thing as a ‘guilty pleasure’. You like what you like and you shouldn’t feel ashamed of it

15. On that same vein, be a cultural sponge. You should try to read, listen to, watch and consume as many different things as possible

16. Society doesn’t care what you as much as you think it does. Do whatever you want and stop caring about what people will say

17. Orange and purple is an underrated combo. Try it!

18. Life is too short to do online quizzes where you have to click on ‘next page’

19. Always be 10 minutes early – you can save a lot of time that way

20. Read something every day, whatever it is, even if it’s just your shopping list

21. Check in on people – you never know if someone might need a friend to talk to; don’t wait for their Instagram stories to reach out

22. Be kind to yourself as well as others. Don’t say things about yourself that you wouldn’t say to your friends. We all deserve love and compassion.

23. Compliment people as much as you can, it will make their day

24. Trust your gut instinct, but know the difference between gut instinct and anxiety

25. You are never a burden. People want to hear what you have to say and how you feel. Talk to people.

26. You are never too old to start anything. Whatever it is, do it.

27. You never know what’s going to happen, but if you don’t take a chance, nothing will happen

28. Don’t overthink things – go with the flow

29. Not all friendships are meant to last forever and that’s OK

30. Starts taking care of your finances as early as possible

31. We all have Imposter Syndrome – don’t worry about it; you belong

32. You are always discovering and re-inventing yourself and that’s a great thing

33. You can eat a whole birthday cake by yourself if you want to, who’s going to stop you?

There they are!