My 20th birthday is tomorrow! Naturally, I've been reflecting over all I've learned in my entire life. I've learned a heck ton of stuff, but I thought I'd pick 20 of them and write them down on here for your reading pleasure!
In no particular order:
1. Your siblings are your God-given best friends. Treat them as such!
2. Just because the friends that you have make other close friends, it does not mean they no longer want to be friends with you.
3. Mental illness looks different for everyone. Just because your depression looks different than other people's, it does not mean your depression doesn't exist.
4. Counseling is wonderful and not only for people with serious mental illness or trauma. Everyone should do it.
5. If you are trying to love yourself based on other people loving you, you are going to be very sad all of the time and hate everything about yourself. People's opinions are not reliable.
6. Sometimes it's okay to consider your own feelings over someone else's.
7. You had better mean it before you ask God to teach you something. He follows through.
8. Confrontation and honesty MUST be paired with grace and love in order for it to be effective and for you to not come off as a huge jerk.
9. Don't hold the way someone was back then against them now. We all change and grow. If people judged me today for who I was in high school I would have no friends probably!
10. Your first relationship doesn't have to be with the person you're going to marry, regardless of what Christian college dating culture tells you.
11. You can be a feminist and a Christian.
12. Give people the benefit of the doubt. They probably did not intentionally hurt you.
13. God calls us to have a heart of flesh, not stone. Even if that means getting hurt. (Shouts to my girl Delaney for this one.)
14. Remember to take time for yourself to rest. Schedule it out if you have to.
15. Read/watch things that challenge your worldview. It's the only way you grow.
16. BE EXCITED ABOUT THINGS.
17. Listen first. Always listen first.
18. Your mom is probably right when she tells you to bring a jacket.
19. Correcting people's grammar constantly is a good way to make everybody hate you.
20. You can't expect people to reach out to you first all the time. Take the risk and make an effort first, it'll pay off.
I'm starting my senior year at UNC in August! I'm stoked and also terrified. But I look forward to learning new things and hopefully sharing some of those lessons with you. Here's to 20 years old!
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