12 things I’ve learned in 39 years
Why 12? Because 3+9=12 and 39 felt like an elephant-sized list to read (and write).
Stop being afraid of a second piece of toast. Sounds basic, but I used to think… wait, what did I think? That one extra slice of toast was going to instantly make me gain 15 pounds? BS. When I want two, now I get two. Hey, old destructive patterns — I’m coming for you.
Working out hard everyday sucks. My body swelled. I was moving through life with a cortisol-fueled, swollen rage. Endless HIIT workouts aren’t my jam, nor are they my body’s — it hated me and begged me to stop. I finally listened and only do the hard ones 1-2 days a week with some more gentler yoga and pilates workouts on the other days. And I try to chill TFO on some days too. For right now, this is what works for me.
My body knows. Kinda spooky sounding, isn’t it? But it does. It knows what it wants and if I’m listening, it’ll tell me what to do.
I should listen to my body. ‘Should’ is in there for a reason… I’ve learned this (see above), I just need to stop pressing the override button so often.
Not everyone is for me. My people are my people. The rest are for someone else. I hope they find who or what they’re looking for – I sincerely do. We all deserve to find our people.
Age is a gift. Sadly, I’ve lost people in my life long before what feels like an acceptable age to leave this earth. Every heartbreaking experience teaches me something, but one thing that keeps coming back when it happens – age is a gift that deserves the expensive, fancy paper and a party. Dare I say a (birthday) party even? Not a jail sentence.
Boundaries. Oof, tough one. Continual lesson. But the best relationships I have are based on mutual respect with a solid foundation of boundaries. I’ll respect yours, you respect mine.
Sleep is my number one Me Time. No one else is invading that space but the wacky, sci-fi-esque players in my dreams. Sleep is precious, and so vital to maximizing all my waking time. The goal is to not stay up late watching movie previews, scrolling social, or stuffing my bobbing, sleepy head with other pointless fluff.
Be curious. I don’t know everything. Ok, I’ve learned this time and time again, and it’s crazy obvious. But seriously… every day I learn something new and I’m like “hot damn, I know nothing!”
I can’t please everyone. Yeah, I'm still working on this one too, but I’ve learned I need to pay attention to this habit. Oh you don’t agree? How can I reword it for you? Dang it!!
What I said in the moment, is what I needed to say. Second guessing is a bitch and then we die. I’ll never bust out all the “right” or “prolific” things I wanted to say in the moment, but my intuition has more wisdom than I give it credit for. Tomorrow I’ll think of 12 more things, (how’d I forget THAT one!) but these 12 still stand.
Right here, right now, is where I’m supposed to be. Will someone remind me of this later when I’m spiraling with future or past worry?
I now have extra incentive to turn 40 next year — I’ll get to write the laziest list of the rest of my life. 4+0=4. Take that you overachieving 39.