Hello, Quarter Life Crisis!
Today, I celebrate my 25th birthday. That’s right. Hello, quarter life crisis! And cheers to turning a quarter of a century. I am now only five years away from turning 30… but this is a blog post about me turning 25, so let’s not think about that yet.
As you all know, I gave birth to healthy baby boy on Sunday, August 9th — starting my maternity leave. Being a mom to a newborn baby is a lot of things, and BORING is definitely one. My son spends a good portion of the day sleeping, I’d say about 12 or 13 hours. When I’m not asleep myself, since I don’t return to work until Thanksgiving, my days are pretty free and I’ve had nothing but time to reflect on the last 25 years. I figured it’d be worth sharing a few major things myself.
I’ve been looking forward to this day since I was 19 years old. As a teenage girl, I knew the big life-changing milestones were 25, 30 and 50.
I thought by 25 I’d be well-established in all aspects of life — career, love life, financially, mentally, emotionally. I thought I’d be married (or close to it), a homeowner, have a big girl job and NO kids.
Am I married or even close to? HA! Not at all. I’m actually the single-est I’ve ever been in my life — we will get into that another time. I don’t own a home. But I do have a job working as a Property Manager in Commercial Real Estate. So I guess I did something right, right?
Here are 25 of my favorite lessons from the past 25 years:
Bad days do not last forever, neither do good days. Learn to handle the situation during the bad times and cherish all the good times.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
MEN SUCK!
It’s okay to not be okay — Use your resources, never be afraid to ask for help.
You can do anything, but not everything.
Sometimes people are meant to be in your life for just a certain amount of time and no more.
People are experiences, not possessions.
Money is replaceable, time is not.
Boundaries are important- don’t be afraid to set them or tell people no.
Don’t make decisions based on emotions
If it won’t matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes on it.
It ls okay to tell people no.
Beating yourself up for making mistakes doesn’t improve the situation.
Put yourself first, every. single. time.
You can’t be evil and laugh at what looks like the demise of others thinking you have one up. Both God and life will humiliate and humble you.
The person who hurt you can NOT heal you.
You can’t pour from an empty cup.
My depression was worst than I was ready to admit.
Your intuition always has your best interest in heart. Listen.
Ignoring red flags will only cost you your peace and sanity in the long run.
If they wanted to, they will.
The way people treat you have nothing to do with you or your worth, but everything about them.
Break ups are hard. They suck too.
Rejection is one of the best ways to learn about yourself.
Not everything you lose is a loss.
I’m not exactly where I thought I’d be at age 25, but if everything goes as planned.. have you really even lived life? Better yet have you learned any valuable lessons? I’ve realized that all my friends and peers in their 20s are all over the spectrum in life. I have friends that are still in school, I also have friends still searching for full-time “big girl/boy” jobs, I have friends with families and homes, and I have some who are completely lost still figuring shit out.
These last 25 years I’ve learned a LOT— about myself, about life and about others. The most important thing I’ve learned is that no matter where you are in life, it’s okay not to have your shit together. Especially in your 20s. Your life is a story, and your 20s is the chapter for self-discovery, making mistakes, and choosing how to spend your time.