30 Lessons Learned in (almost) 30 Years

It's been awhile. I've been writing a lot in this last year, but mostly in the form of lesson plans and student reports, and I have a big research paper on neurology and education coming up in a few months... but I don't think any of those things would be particularly exciting to share here. (However, I am pretty excited about writing that research paper, so you can ask me about it if you want.) Grad School is kinda rad. Suuuuper hard, but kind of the best thing.

It has also been on my mind though, that a million years ago when I started this blog, I was pretty inspired by another blogger (whose name I'm embarrassingly having a hard time remembering) who had recently turned 30, and did a post called "30 Lessons I've Learned in 30 Years". I promptly followed this inspiration to write a "24 Lessons I've Learned in 24 Years" post, which made me feel old and wise and accomplished. I probably did this because for some reason didn't think I'd reach 30, or that by the time I was turning 30, that I'd be rich, retired, and at the very least married and/or occupied with more important matters than to take the time to actually contribute my own version of this 30-year-old-milestone-blog-post to the internet.

Alas, here we find ourselves. I'm definitely not any of the above mentioned things yet (except maybe occupied with more important matters, but writing this seemed a lot more fun tonight than writing lesson plans...), BUT, my life has been filled with many more a learning opportunity since my first attempt at this post 6 years ago, so I thought I'd take the time to document the big ones.

So here goes nothing; these are 30 Lessons I've learned in my (almost) 30 years:

1) Eyebrows are important. They change the look of your face. (And Adele, Adele is also important.)

2) Flossing your teeth is also important. Don't forget it; it's not worth the cavities.

3) Sleep is precious.

4) Self-care is also important. Getting a massage, paying extra for a skin care regimen or hair care products, etc. is not selfish if it helps you feel your best. Because when you feel your best, you're more apt do your best work in whatever sphere of influence you find yourself.

5) Nothing feels better than working really, really hard. No matter what task, relationship, or problem is at hand.

6) Do what you love.

7) Figure out what you are passionate about. It makes all the other mundane and challenging stuff worth it. (I'm passionate about teaching students with learning disabilities, Barbra Streisand, and the royal family; relenting to my true passions on these matters has brought a lot of joy into my life)

8) Take your time. No need to rush. (Said the girl who will finish Grad School 10 years after she started talking about going.)

9) Be kind. Always. There are actually very few exceptions to this.

10) Listen. You don't know what (or who) you'll miss if you don't.

11) Say thank you. Like, everywhere, all the time. It makes a difference.

12) Hold the door for strangers. And friends.

13) Look people in the eye.

14) Pay attention.

15) Look up; from your phone, and instead of being embarrassed or discouraged, and also look up at the sun, at the future, at any source of light and hope.

16) Find the light. (Not just important for good photography.)

17) Create your beautiful life. Make your life as wonderful as you can.

18) Create balance; work hard to be happy and healthy, just like you work hard to be successful.

19) Set goals constantly. (And re-set them just as consistently)

20) Always have a plan B. And C.

21) "Do hard things."

22) When you're ready, move outside of your comfort zone.

23) Ask for help. (This is a big "move outside of your comfort zone" move for me.)

24) Don't let fear stop you.

25) Don't let disappointment halt your progress.

26) It's okay to feel your feelings. You'll feel them eventually anyway, so just let them out. Be sad. Be angry. Cry. Get frustrated. Also fall madly, deeply in love. Be crazy passionate about things. Open your heart enough to feel things that make you happy cry.

27) Try new things. And always be prepared to fail. It's okay to fail miserably. It's okay to try again. It's okay to totally scrap an idea or aspiration and even admit to failure, it's just not okay to stop making progress. Like Walt Disney said, "KEEP MOVING FORWARD". You'll get there. I promise.

28) Rely on something bigger than yourself.

29) Acknowledge your inabilities and weaknesses, and address them.

30) But also know that you're enough; always remember that you have yet immeasurable worth, and you actually can do ANYthing you set your mind to.











**Cue: Tim McGraw's "In My Next 30 Years"**