Lessons 2021 has taught me

Hello, reader! How was 2021 for you? Perfect? Good? Okay? Better than 2020? Could be better? While it was a good year for me, it came life lessons that I want to pass on to you.

1. Everything and everyone is subject to change.

Not everything or everyone in your life is meant to be the same. Changes can sometimes come unexpectedly, whether you are prepared or not. It can be interests and hobbies. It can be job placements. It can be your friends, family, or your partner. It can be physical and/or mental health. Heck, even the weather and outfits. Whatever changes occur, adapt to them the best you can make make the most of them. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Relationships are hard.

When relationships are new, everything seems gold and exciting. As the years go by, the honeymoon phase slowly comes to an end eventually. After the honeymoon phase comes challenges for all couples to face together. Relationships are hard. The hardest ones are the good ones. Good couples can take on anything that may drive a wedge between them. Love always prevails.

3. All couples argue.

Yes. It sucks, but it’s true. Even the cutest couples and seemingly perfect couples argue as well. It’s better for every couple to take care of the issue in their relationship rather than to forgo it, or risk your relationship to deteriorate. As Maroon 5 would say, “It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, it’s compromise that moves us along”

4. Bad experience? Rewrite it into a good or better experience.

Just because your favorite holiday was ruined or your birthday wasn’t what you expected or you have a disastrous date with your partner doesn’t mean the next one will be the same way. Look back on those and think about something positive you gained from it. Learn from the mistakes in the bad experience and think about how it can be better for next time.

5. Kids make messes; Adults clean it up.

In the movie Juwanna Mann, a basketball star named Jamal Jefferies managed to get back into playing basketball by posing as a woman and playing in the women’s team. His misdeed was discovered at the playoff game when his wig fell off. Jamal owned up to it and apologized to the team.

We all screw up and make mistakes. It’s human nature. Nobody is perfect. Mistakes shapes us into the person we are today. Mistakes comes with lessons too. To quote Max Keeble’s Big Move, “Any kid can make a mess, but it takes a man to clean it up.” Here’s another movie quote from The Lion King: “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it”.

6. Forgive, forgive, forgive.

It could be someone who bullied you in school, your friend who has betrayed you or turned their back on you, your coworker or boss who made your life a living hell or family member you repeatedly have World War 3 with. If you’re holding a grudge against someone, let it go. And don’t get back at the person that hurt you. Forgiveness can do so many wonders for you and the person you forgive. This shows that you are the bigger and mature person. The best revenge is forgiving, moving forward, and loving your best life to the fullest.

7. Only YOU can determine how the future will be.

Congratulations! You survived 2021 the way we all survived 2020 and the way Britney Spears survived all of her difficult years (2007 being her rockiest). 2022 is just around the corner. It’s a twelve chapter story and you are the main charater and author of your own. The genre is of your choosing. I bet it’s a page turner! Will it be a good year? Say that it will be and make it so.