Life Lessons, 2016

“Time has a wonderful way to show us what really matters.” 

- Margaret Peters

Here are 5 lessons I learned this year as life happened to me.

Keep your people. 

The people you'd fight for. The people who make up your life, your day, your existence. The people who are your people. The people you'd take to war with you, the ones you bet on and the ones you will protect with everything you have in you. The people you love in every sense of the word, and who love you unconditionally. They've seen you at your worst. Keep them close, love them, tell them you love them. Do it often.

No one is God. 

Don't waste your time and energy trying to impress people. Don't do anything to impress anyone. You don't need to do that, they don't care and it doesn't help you in any way. Focus on being yourself. Be yourself. Be honest, and kind, and do good things as often as you can. Be a better version of yourself every single day. 

Feelings don't need permission. 

You don't need to ask people whether you can love them, miss them, dream of them. You can do all that without permission. Just make sure they are worth so much of your feelings.

Crying is good. 

Grieve about the things that upset you, hurt you, scare you, tire you. Get it all out. Instead of keeping it in and letting it fester. The sooner you grieve about it the sooner you will be able to forget it and move on to think of happier things in your life.

Live today. 

Life is too short. Don't go crazy trying to plan your future. Planning is good. Secure your future. Save. Stay healthy. Be responsible. But remember to find a balance between doing what you have to do and doing what you want to do. There is no other way to do justice to this life. Don't waste your time completing a checklist someone else gave you.