Dress: Women’s Choker Neck Floral Maxi Dress by White House Black Market | Photos by: rgperezphotography
A year ago I did a fabulous photo shoot for my 30th birthday. I thought I was leaving all the craziness of my 20s behind me. I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had the world at my feet and in many ways I did.
At 31, I must admit that 30 wasn’t the year I thought it would be. But, that’s okay. Throughout my life, the universe has hit the reset button many times, but it’s never been game over! In fact, I’ve come back better from every hardship I’ve ever had. I’m kinder because I was bullied. I appreciate my smile because I had braces. I’m at my skinniest because I’ve been at my heaviest. But, most of all I appreciate success more because I’ve experienced failure. I’m thankful for the friends and family who have been by my side no matter what. I’m thankful to be luckier than most. Most of all, I’m thankful for years like this because they really become our best teachers.
Dress: Women’s Choker Neck Floral Maxi Dress by White House Black Market | Photos by: rgperezphotography
In honor of what I’ve learned in the past year, I thought I’d share five lessons I took to heart sometime between 30 and 31. Based on how much I still have to learn, I must say that 31 is still very young!
1. Life has its ups and downs
I had a yoga instructor say once that life is like nature. It has its rainy days and its sunny days. You need to have rainy days in order to have trees and flowers. So sometimes you need to be sad for a while in order for something amazing to happen. In my experience, this has always been true.
No matter who you are, life isn’t all happiness, free champagne and om shanti. It’s often hard, unfair and even unbearable. The secret is outlook. It’s easy to have a positive outlook when everything is going right. But, it can be challenging to do when everything is going wrong. In order to overcome whatever challenge you’re facing you must first embrace the challenge of outlook. According to the principles of The Secret, people who can manifest positive thoughts even in times of trouble can manifest greatness.
2. There are people who will not like you
Negative people are everywhere. But, that doesn’t mean you need to buy into their negativity. For whatever reason, these people are not going to like you no matter how many times you invite them to lunch or send them smiley face emojis. They’re just not. But, that’s their problem. Don’t make it yours.
The best way to deal with these people is to move on from them and wish them well.
3. Count your blessings
They say comparison is the enemy of joy. In my case, that has been 100% true. Throughout my life I’ve always made myself miserable because I was always comparing what I had to what other people did. Now when I find myself doing this I try to think about the things I do have. When I count my blessings, I’m always amazed by how much I actually have. I’ve also come to realize that just because I don’t have everything I want now doesn’t mean that I won’t have it in the future.
4. Fitness trends are your best friends
Fitness is all about fun. If you don’t enjoy your fitness routine it’s time to switch it up. I often talk about how much ClassPass and fitness classes have enriched my life. Through ClassPass I’ve tried everything from aerial yoga and aqua cycle to trampoLEAN and BOING! at Crunch Gym. Fitness trends keep my fitness routine and my life interesting. They give me something to look forward to and help me exercise new muscles.
5. Do what makes you happy
The one thing you need to do is you! We all need to stop chasing someone else’s idea of success or happiness and start focusing on our own.
Thanks so much for listening. If you want to share some lessons you’ve learned, feel free to share them in the comments. I’d love to hear them. I very much look forward to seeing what 31 has to bring.
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