I realise it's been almost four months since I have blogged. Not even going to lie, I've been pretty lazy and also quite busy. On the eve of my 27th birthday, I was in one of my reflective moods and was asking myself "What have you learned in your life?" So alas, here are 27 main things I'd like to share with you all. WARNING: LONG, LONG POST. Don't say I didn't warn you. 1. Chocolate is delicious: Chocolate is my mate. We get along really well. I eat well and I exercise, but if you ever take chocolate away from me, I will probably cry. I don’t eat it everyday and I can live without it BUT I choose not to. I don’t even know why we’re discussing this. 2. PMS is for real: I’m really sorry to everyone who has and will ever have to deal with me during this time but what you’ve heard is true – it’s a real thing. In that one week of every month, us women will go through multiple personalities and sudden changes in emotions in one day. Yep, one day! During this time, if I have just woken up and you say ‘hi’ straightaway, I will dislike you for an hour or more. It’s not you, it’s me. I will go ahead and have chocolate for breakfast and be happy with it because I can do whatever I want. I will then get really hungry because that was not a substantial breakfast so it’ll be time to devour an unhealthy amount of snacks. I will get angry at myself for being so unhealthy and it’s not even lunchtime yet. For lunch, it’s a huge bowl of pasta because I need it. I’ll be texting my friends and laughing like I’m the happiest I’ve been in my life and then watch a video on Facebook about how dogs are a man’s best friend and cry actual tears all within five minutes of each other. This will then bring me to think about what the hell I’m doing with my life. I will again go ahead and laugh at how silly I’d been for crying and go into a reflective state in which I think about how blessed I am to have the life that I live. After this, I think about my hopes and dreams and how I can reach them. Two minutes later, it’s time for a snack, which reminds me how bloated I am leading me to dislike myself even more. I promise myself to exercise to rid of the bloating and make myself feel better and this can go one of two ways: I workout and feel better about myself or I don’t workout and tell myself I’ll do it tomorrow. Either way, this is a guaranteed rollercoaster for a few days. I apologise. 3. Eat your fruits and vegetables daily: I was the child who didn’t like her vegetables.These days I’m a fan of both fruits and veggies on a daily basis. I’m not saying I eat all fruits and all vegetables, but it’s obviously well known that they’re good for you so you should eat them...whatever you do, just put them into your body. 4. A group of girlfriends is everything: I, personally, think that girls need to have a solid group of girlfriends.Nothing compares to having your girls around for a good chat about love, life, dreams, failures, stupidity, and just a good laughing session. 5. Smiling makes everything better: Try it, a smile goes a long away. 6. What you put out, you get back: Positive thoughts, feelings and energy will help improve your life. I’m not a professional in this nor am I here to promote this (ok, a little bit) but from experience, I’ve found that if I consciously think that I will and intend to have a good day, I do. Having specific intentions such as “I will find a good parking spot” or “I will get everything on my to-do list done” seriously works. We just need to put it out there. 7. Tanning easily is as much a problem as getting sunburnt and not tanning at all: Ok, I’ve complained about this and this is the response I ALWAYS get – “oh, poor me, I tan easily and end up with beautiful brown skin instead of turning into a tomato…”. You know what though? It’s not exactly fun for me to be in the sun for LITERALLY fifteen minutes and turn a darker shade of brown. I like to exercise outdoors so it’s annoying when I go for a run or a walk in summer for 30 minutes and come back with extremely visible shirt/gym pants/sports bra tan lines all over my body. It ain’t pretty. 8. Kids really do say the darndest things: Having worked with children for a few years now, I’ve heard some classic lines from them. They’re so innocent and honest, and some of the things they say deserve to be preserved in a book or something. 9. Feed your passion regularly: Whatever your passion is, do something about it. If you’re passionate about baking, bake a couple of times a week. You love to paint? Buy a few blank canvases and go crazy on the weekend! Me? I love to write and I do it as often as I can – both paid and unpaid. Why? Because it’s my outlet and it keeps me sane. 10. You need money to buy things in life, you don’t need it to find happiness: Ah the good ol’ money talk. Yep, we need it to buy groceries, clothes so we’re not running around naked and it also helps with the socialising on the weekend. But to find happiness? Well that depends on what your definition of happy is. A solid family life, an amazing group of friends, and the ability to express myself in writing? Yep, pretty happy. 11. Don’t be cheap, spend your money: Money is there to be spent. Don’t be afraid to book that ticket for that holiday that you know you deserve so much. And those shoes that you’ve been eyeing for a month now…just go and get them (they’re probably on sale by now!). You worked hard for your money, you deserve some sort of reward for it. 12. Don’t be an idiot, save your money: In saying the above, don’t be an idiot and spend ALL your money. Learn to budget, learn to save, learn to pay off your debt regularly. Every pay day, pay off all the bills that you need to pay for that cycle, pay back the money you owe people if you have any, save a certain amount (preferably the same amount each pay day) and then budget the remaining for the rest of the time until the next pay day! 13. Be slow to judge and even slower to envy: Recently I read this quote and I haven’t been able to forget it since. In a society where social media is on top of the list for everyone, it’s so easy for us to look at photos, read what people have written, watch videos and then judge and be jealous of people’s lives. Don’t be. Each and every single one of us has our own story so don’t judge a person whose story you don't know of. Don’t be jealous of what you see because there is a huge chance that they don’t have something of yours that could truly make them happy. 14. Be consistent with your exercise: If there is anything I’ve learned over many years, those fad/crash diets do not work. They may help you lose weight but the real challenge is maintenance. Trust me, I’ve been there – the packaged 'fat-free' meals, the calorie counting, the complete elimination of dairy and gluten (blah blah blah) when I didn’t have to, the intense exercise regimes. Yep, been there. One thing I know that has always made me feel better is consistent exercising. You don’t have to run 10 kilometres a day or be doing 250 sit-ups every night, but you just have to be doing SOMETHING. Do your squats and use dumbbells while you’re watching TV, go out for a walk with friends on the weekend, do a couple of reps of push ups when you wake up, go for a quick jog when life is stressing you out. Whatever it is, just do it. Put your shoes on and just do it. 15. Try not to use the word ‘hate’: There are two things in my life that I have made the conscious effort to try and eliminate – soft drinks and saying the ‘H’ word. This is NOT to say that I never drink soft drinks nor use that word but I promise you, I try my hardest not to. Biting my tongue every time I feel myself about to say the word ‘hate’ has been one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.There is no need for it in the world, seriously. Use the word ‘dislike’ or ‘unhappy with’, There are far more accurately descriptive words to express your feelings than this unnecessary negative word/energy. 16. Avocado on toast is unbeatable: Holy crappola, avocado on toast with salt and pepper is absolutely heaven-sent. It is by far one of, if not, my favourite breakfast. It’s just absolutely delicious. Add a poached egg to it and you’re set. 17. Being grateful every single day is necessary: It’s important to be grateful every single day. May sound cheesy but it’s not that hard to spend two minutes a day to just sit and think about the positives in your life. Although I don't have everything I want, I always have everything I need so yes, I say thanks at the end of everyday because to take what I have for granted and not be grateful would be a massive fail on my part. 18. Ellen DeGeneres is an absolute legend: She is amazing. I want to meet her. I want to be her. She needs to become a saint. 19. Always remember to say please, thank you, and sorry: Honestly, it’s not that hard. Someone does something nice for you, you say thank you. You want something done for you, say please. You do something wrong, say sorry. It takes one second to say each and doing so changes everything. 20. Be proud of everything you have and will ever achieve: Anything that you have ever worked hard for, that has ever given you a sense of accomplishment and provided you with such happiness shouldn’t be hidden or kept secret. Let it out! Celebrate your achievement and be proud, no matter how big or small the feat! 21. Always make sure you’re sending your texts to the right person: Last year I learned the important lesson of checking whom you’re sending your texts to. In such a technology-based society, I’m telling you now…this is important! Last year I saw the movie ‘Bad Neighbours’ with one of my girlfriends. There was a line in the film and all it said was ‘rape!!!’ (obviously, the only funny thing about this was the way the character said it along with his facial expression). I decided to remind my friend of this funny line one day just by texting her that line because I knew she would get it. She never replied. Three hours later I realised I had sent it to a guy I was supposed to have a date with two days later. No, never heard from him again. Fair enough, I think. 22. Don’t force yourself to finish all the food on your plate when you're full: Most people were told as children to eat all their food on their plates because there are children in the world who have nothing to eat. I completely understand this but you eating those extra two bites on your plate is not going to magically transport food to them. If you really want to help, gather up some canned foods and send to those who have nothing. They will appreciate that more than they would you forcing yourself to finish your meal. 23. You must travel: Just like chocolate, I don’t know why we’re even discussing this. Travelling doesn’t always have to mean international. Experience what’s outside of your city. Explore hidden gems, taste different cuisines, walk through history and get to know the locals of different cultures. You’ll thank yourself in the future. 24. Take your make-up off every night before you go to bed: My mother introduced me to face creams when I was ten and thank goodness she did. And as I got older, I somehow decided that I will never go to sleep without taking my make-up off and it really does help. Trust me, clean that face of yours. 25. Quality VS. Quanity: It’s not how long you’ve known someone that matters, it’s how well you look after the relationship. It’s not the numbers on the scales that matter, it’s how healthy you feel about yourself – emotionally, mentally and physically. It’s not the number of awards you receive, it’s how hard you worked and how satisfied you are with your efforts. You get the idea. 26. Learn to laugh at yourself: Seriously, a day without laughter is a day wasted. There HAS to be something during the day that you find funny. Nobody is perfect, drill that into your head. This means you aren't either, sorry to burst your bubble. You need to be able to laugh at yourself and don't take everything to heart. You'd be surprised how much better you'll feel when you actually have a bit of a giggle at yourself and brush things off. 27. Embrace every single one of your birthdays: For the past few years, I’ve joked to friends about how I plan on staying whatever age I’m turning that year and stop getting older. We all laugh and it’s all good but in all honesty though, I embrace it. And you should too because getting older and reaching a new age is a privilege that not everyone is lucky enough to have. There are so many out there whose lives are cut short - babies, children, teenagers and young adults, and to reach another number in your life is definitely worth celebrating.
