Today is my Birthday!
I used to be one of those people that would get a little sad on this day, lamenting the fact of getting older, and now I finally understand what a gift it is. I get a whole other year to live a life I created, and that should be fully celebrated, sequins and all!
It’s also the perfect time to come to terms with a few realizations and gems of hindsight you only gain once you’ve been around the block a few times. A couple of things I would LOVE to tell my 20-year-old self (and have her actually listen!) So, for all of you youngings out there, in no particular order.
5 Birthday Resolutions for your Younger Self
Dear younger version of (insert your name here)
1) Wash your Face!
As the book says, ‘wash your face giiiirl!’ but really, start thinking of your skin like a long-term passion project! You don’t even want to know what my skincare routine (or lack thereof) was in my early twenties, and I feel like I’m paying for it now. So, don’t get lazy on your skin girls, it’s the only one you’ve got.
2) Take a Crazy Risk!
And by crazy I mean something that sounds too scary, like moving across the country or …..I don’t know, trying out for The Voice? Something that you kind of knowyou might fail at. In 15 years, no matter what, this leap of faith will teach you some priceless life lessons. (I still regret not taking a leap to move to NYC after graduating from college) My husband’s favorite quote is “fail early, fail often” and I am finally starting to live by those words and learning that failure is not such a bad thing. In fact, when I think back, most of my biggest successes were all born out of a failure.
3) Work Less, EnJOY More!
This one I am still working on (no pun intended) every day and hope that this is the year I’ll finally be able to find some balance between work and, well LIFE. It goes fast and it only gets faster, and there really is no rewind and redo button. Especially if you are starting to think about having kids, enjoy every little stage and crazy period, because it is such a bittersweet reality when you realize that for every “first” there is a “last”.
4) See the Big Picture of your Life!
This is a big one I wish someone would have really driven home for me when I was younger. I recently heard a quote that resonated with me so much: “Decisions make destiny”. It’s SO easy to get caught up in your very next step, hell just getting through the day, that sometimes seeing the big picture of where you are going is near damn impossible. And how can we ever get there if we don’t take the time to pave the road we want to walk on? I wish that I had taken more time to take a step back and look 5 steps ahead. Better late than never on this one though!
5) Silence the itty, bitty, Shitty Committee in your Head!
A friend of mine just shared this saying with me and I immediately adopted it into my vocabulary. It is SO true and I am 100% guilty STILL to waking up to that little voice of doubt in my head every morning. But when I look back on my younger years, I want to scream to that girl, “you’re actually pretty damn awesome! Stop it!”. If we can sit down and talk our girlfriends off the biggest ledges, shouldn’t we be able to do that for ourselves first?
AND last, just breathe. Everything that has already happened is now literally just a figment of your imagination, because it resides solely in your head and nowhere else! When I had this thought for the first time while meditating, I took is as such an epic ‘aha’ moment in my life. Such an opportunity to let go of so many things. The past is literally just all in our heads. So, keep what you want to hang onto where it belongs, in your heart. Let go of everything else.
Now I’m going to go wash my face!
