What I learned during 23

Being 23 wasn’t the easiest. This year I went through a lot and experienced more growth than I have in any other previous year. Here’s some things I learned while being 23:

–It’s okay to put yourself first.

This one is new for me, I’m the type of person that is always bending over backwards for people, doing whatever I can to be there for others. Until one day I realized that I also need to be taking care of myself. While I was 23 I finally started to understand that it’s okay to put yourself first. It’s okay to spoil yourself at a spa for the day. It’s okay to go on a vacation your mother doesn’t approve of. It’s okay to splurge on something you’ve wanted for months. It’s okay to walk away from someone who isn’t contributing to your life. It’s okay to stop giving to everyone besides yourself. In your twenties you might as well be a little selfish, because when life happens and you get married and have kids you won’t have the flexibility of having the option to put yourself first. I decided to put myself first now, because frankly I deserve it.

–Working on being better isn’t all that bad.

Putting myself first opened up my eyes to a lot. Good and bad. There is always room for improvement and instead of sticking to my guns and staying content I decided that I needed to start working on bettering myself. It isn’t something that you can do over night, it’s something that you have to take baby steps towards. Not only will bettering yourself allow you to have goals but it will ultimately bring out the best of you. I started out by making a bunch of different goals and made it a point to create habits that would help me work on qualities that needed some boosting.

–Perspective and attitude are absolutely everything.

At 23 dating sucked, it was even miserable at times. But perspective and attitude are absolutely everything. I experienced some great relationships and some not so great relationships this past year. Mostly this year, I grew up a lot when it came to dating. All I can say is it’s about dang time. Looking at even the worst of times, I still learned something. There are values and qualities that I took from each relationship. When you find perspective and the right attitude within each situation you encounter it really does make all the difference. To read more about this and how it lead to me becoming unrecognizably happy see my blog post: If you’re looking for happiness in a relationship, you’re doing it all wrong.

If 23 brought all of this into my life, I am beyond ready for whatever 24 has to bring. I’ve got a great feeling about it. Hello 24.

Also quick shout out to ‘Grow It Girl’ (http://www.iheartmimi.com) if you want longer hair you absolutely NEED this product! I’ve only been using it for a couple of weeks and my hair is growing so much! Plus it smells amazing!