13 Reflections from my 25th Year
Today, September 13th 2022, I turn 26. My 25th year has been a year of heartbreak, healing, and a winding journey of finding my way back to my truth. It was a deep inward process of getting to know and understand all aspects of myself and working to heal, grow, and accept myself. Here are a few thoughts and reflections I feel summarise important aspects of my last year.
1. I am constantly changing and am allowed to change my mind at any moment. I used to feel I had to remain constant, consistent, unwavering or else I was giving up, flaky, or inauthentic. In actuality we are different people every day, every second even, and our minds are meant to change.
2. The friendships meant to stay in our life, will. Energy and effort needs to be reciprocal. It is ok, important even, to let go of those who do not serve us and trust that we are making space for the right relationships to come. Hold tight and commit to those who show up for you no matter what.
3. I have the strength to get myself through any situation, no matter how challenging or how much I believe that is untrue in the moment.
4. I am here to follow my joy - I believe we all are. The things we are drawn to and that excite us are that way for a reason, they are our breadcrumbs on our path and we are meant to follow them.
5. I am allowed to speak my mind. As long as I am speaking authentically and from my truth, it does not matter what others think.
6. Admitting I need help and asking for it, is a strength. Finding a team of professionals that have supported me and whom I love, trust and advocate for me, can be life changing.
7. You can only make decisions from what you know in that moment. Forgive your past self, and once you know more, you can make new choices.
8. Traveling won’t let you escape yourself but if you are willing to do the hard work wherever you are, getting into an environment better suited to you can help set your soul free. And, being in nature, the forest specifically, is where I feel the most alive and connected to myself.
9. My path is not what society told me it should be or what I once thought it would be and that is ok. I am on my own winding path forward, we all are, and comparisons and expectations only hold us back.
10. It’s ok and normal to feel many different emotions all at the same time. It is part of the magic of being human.
11. Being human is simpler and more complicated than it appears. Find the ways in each moment to let go, be at ease, and let it be simpler.
12. We are allowed to love ourselves. We are allowed to treat ourselves kindly, gently, and do not need to do anything to prove we are enough. We are all imperfect humans trying our best. We are all enough and deserve joy, simply because we are.
13. Trust your intuition, no matter what, always trust your intuition.
Bonus — find yourself an animal soul mate to take on the world with and everything gets a lot better.
