Dear 2019
Welcome to 2020! To the left you will find Australia on fire, to the right you see USA and Iran on the brink of starting a world war.
Jokes aside, happy new year. I am truly heartbroken for this world and I hope the future we can work together to combat climate change and figure out issues without going to war. That’s another talk for another day though.
In honor of the new year, I wanted to reflect upon my 2019 and the lessons I’ve learned during the past year. Every year I feel a emotional and nostalgic, looking back upon my many memories, hardships, failures, successes, and everything in between. As an emotional, sentimental, crybaby I just can’t help it!
There are so many lessons I’ve learned in 2019 - some of them I’ve already forgotten and will have to re-learn in 2020, but for the sake of time I’ll narrow it down to some of the most significant lessons I’ve learned this past year.
1. You are the captain of your own life
It might not come as a surprise to others that you are the sole person in charge of your own life. Shocker right? I’ve always subconsciously known this, but I think there comes a point where all the cliche quotes and things we are told throughout our life truly click and we have that “a-ha” moment where we realize the true significance of that quote.
I’m 22, so it feels late to be learning this message, but I’ll be honest it seems like so many others still have not learned!
Here’s the easiest example I can think of. I follow this girl Lexie Alford (Lexie Limitless). She’s the youngest person to travel to every country. Naturally, as a wanderlust, adventure-seeking, travel junkie I am interested in her content. One thing I noticed is all the hate she gets. Seriously! Comments pointing out her privilege, demeaning her achievements for various reasons, and just hating on her. The thing these haters don’t realize is that she made these things happen.
In life, we’re given different starting points, different advantages and disadvantages, but at the end of the day you have to make things happen. The girl had some sort of privilege to start with, but she was the one who worked hard and made her dream of traveling to every country a reality.
It’s not about wanting something. It’s about doing everything possible to make your dream a reality.
Which brings me to the next point,
2. Work hard and the success will follow
Have you ever gotten into a situation and thought ‘I’m not supposed to be here!’ I am a graduate student, and so often last semester I felt this uneasiness and pure imposter syndrome. I constantly felt like all the other students were much smarter, worked harder, and were just above me in terms of academics. In short I felt that I shouldn’t have been accepted into grad school. Which is crazy! For awhile I just thought it was just “good luck”.
In life, there are many things that happen by chance or “luck”, if you wish. That’s just how life is. C’est la vie!
But something I realized this year is that you don’t get by in life with just luck alone. Of course there is always an exception to the rule, but for now we are all the rule.
Famous artists (singers, actors, musicians, etc.) for example; is it that they’re talented or is it that they were lucky? Of course, there are plenty of talented people out here who can sing, dance, play an instrument, and so much more. The world is filled with talented people! I used to argue that those who are famous (some) just happened to get lucky playing their cards right. And that’s partially true. But they also deserve all the fame, because they worked hard.
These people may have sacrificed many things, courageously and blindly chased their dream until it was a reality, got up after every failure, and continued to persevere until they reached some point. It’s no “accident”.
And that’s something I remind myself of when I find myself in situations where I feel inadequate - that I’m meant to be here!
And finally,
3. Take care of yourself
Who would’ve thought - eating healthy, exercising regularly, sleeping the suggested amount, drinking water, and socializing with others would have any effect on your mental and physical well being? What a weird world that doctors were right.
No, but actually I’m realizing I can’t treat my body like crap anymore! I just can’t eat junk food the way I used to without facing repercussions.
I don’t have any long explanation or backstory here, but eat your fruits and vegetables, hydrate, exercise... just take care of yourself! Your body will thank you and you will feel so much better.
There’s so many more lessons and “wisdom” I’d love to share, but for the sake fo time and because I want to make myself something to eat now, I’ll leave it at that :)
-smp