The ten-year-old in me still can't believe I'm writing this blog. It's been a long and adventurous year. Time keeps going faster and faster. I feel like days are longer, and years are shorter. Every year, I ask my close family and friends questions about my personality and habits that might need improvement. I take their feedback and work on it. Near my next birthday, I ask the same people if they noticed any difference in my personality. Their input and my own journaling experience has been helping me become a better version of myself every day.
I'll be turning 24 in a month, so I decided to share everything I learned while I was 23. Here is a list of 23 things I learned from being a 23-year-old.
1. A good relationship with your family is worth it
Not too long ago, the year was 2020, and one of my goals was to get closer to my family. Fast forward it's 2022, and I have opened up a lot to my family. I have had arguments, stated my facts and reasons, and finally convinced them that I am the way I am for a reason. They have accepted me and trust me in my judgments.
2. Travel because life is short and responsibilities are waiting for you
The 23rd year of my life is when I took the most amount of flights. For some people, that's pretty common and normal, but not to me. I have never been privileged enough to travel this often, so I'm very grateful for all the experiences. Those memories have definitely been the highlight of my year, so I plan on traveling even more in my next year of life.
3. Reserve your energy for important matters
The 23rd year of my life is when I took the most amount of flights. For some people, that's pretty common and normal, but not to me. I have never been privileged enough to travel this often, so I'm very grateful for all the experiences. Those memories have definitely been the highlight of my year, so I plan on traveling even more in my next year of life.
4. Your health is your true wealth
You have probably heard of this before, but I can't emphasize this enough. Every day I wake up, and I thank God for my health. In this world, people are waking up to get diagnosed with a new problem every day. So, focus on a good diet, exercise regularly, be grateful, and visit your doctors often.
5. Become BFF with your finances
A dollar invested and a dollar saved are two decisions you will never regret. With the first option, there are risks but so do everything else in life. If you want your money to grow, educate yourself and establish a healthy balance between saving and having fun.
6. Be spontaneous
I used to be against this. I wanted everything planned ahead of time. But then I realized I never ended up doing anything because "something came up". My solution? First, I realize I have the "want" to go somewhere. Then I see my next free day on my calendar. Boom! I go.
Don't overthink small things.
7. Establish honesty and comfortability with yourself
Spend lots of time alone. Ask yourself about your likes and dislikes. Question your "weirdness". But in the end, be honest with yourself.
If you don't like something, don't pretend you do. And if you do like something(or someone👀), well, the best time to take action was yesterday 🤷🏻♀️
8. Everything is temporary
Nothing is permanent unless it's a tattoo. Any pain, feeling, or situation you are in at the moment all of these things are temporary. So, please don't fret about it. You'll soon find yourself in a better situation.
9. College graduation is going to happen for you
If you are like me and think you won't get to graduate college because of your current situation in life, I have one phrase for you, "Don't lose hope." I graduated college, which on some level was impossible for me, but I did, and I'm very proud of myself for making that happen.
10. Sometimes what we want is not what we need
This will hit differently for each individual who reads this. If you are 23 or older, you have already been in a situation where you thought that "this" was something you wanted, but life changed that perspective for you. Don't lose too much energy on something that didn't go your way.
11. I started focusing and improving my concentration
Remote classes/meetings and Salah(Namaz) are the two things that continue to remind me of how bad my concentration levels were. Still, to this day, I start my Salah and forget which Rakat I'm on🤣. I realized that I needed to become more mindful and be present in the moment. Mindfulness has also helped me with my memory problems over this past year.
12. I moved out to my first apartment
Yep, it finally happened for me🥺. I lived with these three people for almost four years in this old ass apartment building. I recently moved to this new apartment building and feel so grateful for a clean kitchen.
13. You have to work for your dreams
If you can dream it, you can achieve it. But don't expect it to come easy. Hard things take their sweet time, making you work for them.
14. It's ok to have conflicting thoughts
Have you ever disagreed with yourself? No? You are weird. Yes? You are normal. For example, I want to travel because I will never be this young again, but I don't want to travel because all I have is a credit card with a huge limit and no bank balance, lol.
15. Peace is better than toxicity
Do you have friends, for name sake? Like you can call them friends, but they are more like frenemies? Yeah, I had some of those jealous people. I kicked them out of my social media recently. You don't need these people in your life.
16. It's never too late
Social media can make us think that it's always too late but don't get caught up in that mess. Just start something and keep up with it consistently.
17. Communication is better than silence
If I saw something wrong or didn't like something, I ensured the other person was aware. But I just stayed quiet if I had something bad to say about someone.
18. You can be the person of your dreams
I have this puzzle in my head, and I'm slowly completing it. I don't think I will ever get to finish it, but the fact that I can add a piece to this puzzle daily gives me the same joy as completing it.
Hint: This puzzle is a picture of my dream self.
19. Prioritizing my prayers prioritized my well-being
Something about taking 5-10 mins in a middle of a busy day five times a day gave me the sense of urgency that I care about my future and well-being. It helped me become more mindful. Especially the Fajr prayer. Every day that I can wake up for Fajr, my day goes very smoothly. Something about taking the time early in the day to connect with Allah has given me a special kind of peace and a sense of productivity.
20. I continued to didn't care about peoples opinion
Yeah, kind of used to this by now, but in case anyone needed a reminder. Elon Musk doesn't care about people's opinions; why should you?
21. It’s ok to miss your parents and feeling like a child
This part actually sucks. We are so caught up in worrying about getting old that we don't realize that our parents got 23 years older as well. Often, I find myself shedding a tear because I miss my parents or want them to celebrate my birthdays and other accomplishments with me. Some days, I feel that I am a child trying to make it day by day and wonder if this is what all life is about? And other days, I want to feel like a child, put my head on their lap and take a nap🥺
22. Everyone's struggling and I'm not alone
The title speaks for itself.
23. Every year brings a new challenge so play along like Super Mario
Life only gets tough every time we level up, like in video games, so I have learned to take a solution-oriented approach and embrace the new challenges.
There you go. This list covers most of the things I learned from the 23rd year of my life. I hope this brings some positivity to your life.
Till next time, Peace✨
Happy Birthday to me, aka ZMoney🎂
留言