Life Lessons Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Life lessons. We all have them. However, we don’t all learn from them.

The thing is, that’s the most important bit.

Learning!

I learn something new all of the time! I trust too much; I’m way too honest and can be loyal to the wrong people. But, even with all my fuck ups, I am living and learning.

After all, isn’t that kinda the purpose of life?

We live. We learn. We become wiser (hopefully). And then we learn to live more truly. Oh, and we might even share our learnings.

So here are four of the biggest life lessons I’ve learned so far – because sharing is caring 🙂

Life Lesson 1

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Ok, so not sweating the hard stuff is hard to do. I mean, if I didn’t sweat the small stuff, you wouldn’t be reading my blog, which is full of me sweating the small stuff, stressing out over stupid shit, and constantly needing to remind myself!

Trust me when I tell you this – the small stuff, it ain’t worth it!

But that’s for you to learn. You won’t realise it’s small stuff until you are long into your 30s and have possibly been writing about it on a public blog for 4 1/2 years…(earlier if you are wise and learned and stuff!). Unless you tune into mindfulness – THAT I highly recommend! Life-changer!

Life Lesson 2

Shit will happen, BUT you will survive.

Shit will happen more than once – to all of us. The thing is, we all have a choice. We can let the shit drag you down, again and again, or we can suck it up, pull up our bootstraps and move onwards and upwards. Again and again.

We are all on this crazy ride together, even though we sometimes feel alone.

So do yourself a favour.

Find a mantra, memorise it, use it, and most importantly, realise that you are not alone.

Just like Dory said…‘just keep swimming’.

Seriously, that person zoning out next to you on the train on the morning commute is right there with you, going through their shit and making their own choices. Try not to judge, and show yourself and others some heartfelt compassion because life ain’t easy.

Just keep swimming.
Dory

Life Lesson 3

Put yourself first.

As long-time people pleaser, I believed that putting others first was the right thing to do. And so I sacrificed my health (both physical and mental), my values, my self-esteem.

I’ve landed myself in terrible, demoralising situations due to my people-pleasing tendencies (lack of confidence and inability to say ‘NO’). I am thankful that as I’ve grown older, I’ve grown some balls, and a voice and learnt to speak up for myself. It was only last year that I started putting myself first, though – and that’s when my life changed.

It’s true what they say, that you can only help others when you help yourself. Self-love is important and isn’t selfish, no matter what anyone tells you.

Life Lesson 4

Open yourself up to love.

There is nothing like heartbreak. It feels like you are dying a slow death every minute, every hour, and every day – for however long it lasts. The darkness and emptiness are all-encompassing, so much so that it can be hard to find any reason to go on.

So why the hell am I recommending that you open yourself up to love if there’s a chance it can be so soul-destroying?

Because love is life-changing, soul-defining, and beautiful.

Love is worth it all, even with the potential or real heartbreak. You can always fall in love again, and there is even the chance that you will prove the statistics wrong and live a real-life love story. It might not turn out to be like the fairy tales, but it will be your own.

This is coming from someone who had securely locked her heart up deep within the crevice of her chest until the age of 26, and then, quite unexpectedly, she fell in love when she accidentally let her guard down and was crushed. And although she thought that was the end, she healed, grew stronger and met someone new. Someone more worthwhile.

Ten years later, we are still together, newlywed, and embarking on the next chapter of their lives together.