1. Aging is a privilege. Consider every wrinkle, every gray hair, every age spot a blessing and a gift–not everyone lives long enough to experience them.
2. There is a lesson in every life experience, good or bad. The challenge is to find it and apply it.
3. The more things you own, the more your things own you.
4. If you have someone in your life who loves you, you already have so much to be grateful for.
5. If you can learn to forgive yourself, you can learn to love yourself.
6. If you can learn to love yourself, your life will be infinitely beautiful.
7. Clinging to someone else’s definition of success is a dangerous thing. Come up with your own definition and remind yourself of it every single day.
8. Success, however, isn’t the secret to happiness. The true secret to happiness is gratitude. Are you alive and breathing today? Be grateful.
9. As counterintuitive as it might feel at first, teach yourself to be grateful for the bad things, too. In every setback, there is a lesson to be learned and a new door of opportunity that has been opened.
10. If you can travel, travel. And always remember that to do so is a great privilege.
11. Even if you can’t travel, maintain an earnest curiosity about the world and the people around you and you’ll evolve no matter where you are.
12. Nothing is ever personal. People are too involved in their own story to think about you every step of the way. Once you come to grips with this, you will be set free.
13. Never stop learning and asking questions. You can never and will never know everything.
14. Meditation does not mean the absence of thoughts. It simply means observing your thoughts without resisting them.
15. The only moment that matters is this one that you’re living right now. The past and future do not exist.
16. One person CAN make a difference. Change yourself, change the world.
17. Speaking of change, this is a good and necessary part of the human experience. Embrace change at every turn.
18. The best way to conquer any fear is to just do the thing. It’s never as scary as your mind thinks it will be, and you will be stronger and braver the next time around.
19. You’ll never run out of love to give, so give it freely to everyone you encounter. Kindness always comes back around.
20. Travel or a change of location won’t solve your problems. You must be willing to do the hard work of acknowledging them and facing them before you’ll come anywhere near fixing them.
21. Growth is painful. Chances are if you’re hurting right now, you’re on the path to something beautiful.
22. There’s only so much growing one can do on their own. While it may seem tempting to wall yourself off from humanity, you won’t be doing yourself (or the rest of us) any favors. Every single interaction is an opportunity to better yourself. To practice patience, to practice kindness, to practice humility and grace.
23. Never leave things unsaid with a loved one. You never know which day is going to be your last, and you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to heal your relationship or let them know how much you love them.
24. Finishing things for the sake of finishing them is stupid. If you know what you want and this ain’t it, say goodbye/turn it off/put the book down. Give your precious time only to the things that truly give you joy.
25. Creativity is like a muscle–it grows stronger the more you use it. Create something new each and every day.
26. There’s never going to be a perfect moment to take that trip/have a baby/sign up for a new class/[insert thing you’re scared of here]. You’re never going to feel ready and we all know “someday” doesn’t exist. The longer you put it off, the scarier it’ll seem, so just take a deep breath and take the leap.
27. Learn how to graciously accept a compliment. Contrary to everything women have been taught, self-deprecation isn’t cute.
28. At any given moment, everything is happening exactly how it should. Relax and enjoy the ride.
29. Take care of yourself first, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This is the only way you will be properly equipped to serve others.
30. It’s never too late to start over or pursue a new dream. Reinvent yourself as many times as you like in this lifetime and don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks. Ain’t nobody got time for haters.
What are some of the best life lessons you’ve learned so far?
