27 Taught Me

As of January 19, 2016, I officially survived the 27 Club. In a nutshell, 26 and 27 weren’t my best years. Feels like after 25, life dropped me off at a train station with all the baggage I could pack.

To me, my birthday is a personal New Year. So as it got closer to my special day, I started to think about all the life lessons 27 taught me.

Now that I’ve fully recovered from all the celebrating, it’s time to put these lessons in a blog post. Please note: This list isn’t numbered. One of the things 27 taught me is numbered lists on Word Press aren’t my friend.

27 Taught Me…

I will never be this young ever again. While watching the Golden Globes, I couldn’t help but notice some of my childhood favorites are aging. One year someone told me, “You only turn 25 once.” My initial reaction was, “Isn’t that the same for every age?” That’s exactly the point–I’ll never be 27, 26, 25 etc EVER again. #YOLO

I still don’t have the patience to be responsible for a child 24/7. Two hours is my cut-off. I’ll re-evaluate this again at 29.

I need better business skills. I’ve given people ideas and hashtags basically for free. Now they’re making money off them, and I’m in the corner looking basic. A real businesswoman wouldn’t have let that happen.

Silence is golden. Maybe it’s because I come from a big family, or maybe it’s because I always have 8 million thoughts in my head–but I love having peace and quiet.

Having financial stability is a major key to success. All of my stress goes back to money issues. All. Of. It.

I’m a starter, not a finisher. I love getting details together. But when it comes to execution, I’m not the one. It could be my insecurities and fear of failure, but at least I can acknowledge this weakness. Right?

Not everyone’s path to their purpose is the same. More importantly, not everyone has the same purpose.

Social media flexing is real. It’s great people celebrate their best moments on social media. I mean, who wants to read negative posts all the time? But it’s easier to forget that just because this person is engaged, doesn’t mean they’re in a great relationship (unfortunately); and just because she’s got your dream job, doesn’t mean she isn’t battling depression.

Wine is always a good idea. Don’t try and tell me otherwise. 

Filling my mind with positive thoughts is easier said than done. Way easier.

Even when I don’t want to, talking to my friends about my problems is a major key. Sometimes you need someone to be petty with, but sometimes you need someone to put you in check.

When in doubt, twerk it out. Twerk sessions are the new happy hours. Okay, maybe that’s a stretch. But even if you can’t dance, cardio and laughter are good for the soul.

I underestimated the power of my living environment. Little things I take for granted play a big role in my productivity and sanity: a comfortable bed, a dryer, hot water…the list goes on.

Caffeine is the real MVP. I’m typing this off one cup of coffee right now, and I’m bound to fall asleep at any moment. Struggling, yo.

Privacy is necessary. Another reason why I don’t see kids in my near future. If I don’t have time to be still and enjoy my own company, hell may break loose.

I’ve done some pretty cool things in my life. I didn’t learn this for this first time at 27. Maybe I learned it again. I was talking to a young lady in her early 20s, and hit her with that… “When I was your age, I…” It was fun sharing some of my stories, while learning about her accomplishments.

The struggle is more real without faith. I’m a very practical person. My motto for year 27 was, “I got questions.” It’s hard to see better days when the bad days are clouding my judgement. Without believing in something, especially yourself, you could fall for anything.

My MacBook was my bae. On a very sad day in December, my MacBook, Chloe, stopped working. My life hasn’t been the same since. Writing blog posts and creating social media campaigns were easier to bare with Chloe. My poor thumb needs a break from this iPhone.

My friends are pretty dope. This isn’t breaking news, but I got a few reminders last year.

My family is also pretty dope, especially my sisters. Again, not anything new.
 

I can’t make fetch happen. If you’ve never seen Mean Girls, let me break this down for you. People will do and feel what they want, regardless of how badly I want them to do or feel something else.

My childhood is sneaking back up on me. We moved a lot. To the point to where I was embarrassed to have my friends pick me up, because my address changed three times in one school year. This was a big part of why I went to college, for stability. But here I am, an aspiring adult and I’ve had more jobs and “homes” than my friends may have in their lifetimes.

As much as I think I always follow my instincts, I don’t.

Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy wine, pizza, coffee, Netflix and a lot of the other things that make me smile.

Gotta keep it moving. Life is going to on with or without me. I can get up and show up, or I can sit in the dark all day and cry–either way, the show will go on.

Things could always be worse. Always. There’s no greater reality check than reading or hearing about devastating world news. Also, nothing puts things in prospective like remembering you’ve been through worse. Example: I’ve gained weight since “moving” back to Charleston in May, but part of the reason why is because I was hungry in Atlanta. Hungry as in, “Am I going to hop on this MARTA or buy bread?” Or as in, “I need this 5-pack of noodles to last me a whole week.” So, yeah my clothes don’t fit like they used to but at least I have clothes, and at least there’s food on the table.

I probably should’ve started writing this the day I turned 27. I may have missed a few gems from my 365 days as a 27-year-old, however, I’m going to try to keep a little list in my phone of lessons I’m learning during the great 28.

Did you count to make sure I listed 27 things? ☺ What life lessons have you learned in your personal New Year? What advice do you have that could help make 28 my greatest year yet?