Wrapping up 2019: 10 lessons I learned in 2019

Journal

Dec 9

Written By

That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.

- Doris Lessing

Going into the new year I said I would receive 2019 with open arms and man did I embrace it. At times it was a full embrace other times a reluctant one while sometimes it was full of questions on my end, resulting into a lot of confusion with a ~~sprinkle~~ whole lot of awkwardness.

With all the embracing, there are many many lessons that I learned. For the sake of numerology (because I do believe in the power of numbers) and because the 2010's decade is coming to an end, here are 10 of the lessons I would like to share with you:

Trust yourself, you know more and can do more than you think you do.

I have doubted myself plenty of times, when I could have just gone for it without the hassle. Every time you go for something you come out better. It may not work out the way we envisioned it to turn out but there’s always a lesson that helps become better, become bolder, become more balanced.
Procrastination is all fine until it’s not and seems more like hell: heavy hard and hot.

Procrastination is like an itch that feels great to scratch but then turns into a very painful wound and sometimes even a pretty nasty scar. That’s all to say it’s not worth it. Pushing things off till tomorrow, like tomorrow will never come and then being taken aback when tomorrow arrives with obligations from yesterday and today right beside it.
Not everyone is your friend.

Friends, Friends. There's a difference between an acquaintance and a true friend but more on that on another post. I’ve learned to know my circle, my circle of trust of loyalty of love. That's it.
When someone decides to leave, let them.

Holding on to someone who has made up their mind to leave you is a waste of time and of your energy. I used to hold on to people thinking I wouldn't be able to do life without them. Well, here I am doing life and living life without them. Doing just fine. Whatever is for you will be for you, no doubt about it.
Being kind, goes a long way.

The truth is we never know what someone is going through, we can’t always help them but we can always be kind. Smile to someone or say something nice, one or two (or more) words of encouragement can help. Let’s not forget to direct the kindness towards ourselves too.
Let your yes be your yes, and your no be your no.

My dad says this a billion times, and only now that I’m older, do I get the essence of it. It’s all about integrity and self perseveration. It's okay to say no, if you want to. It's okay to say yes to something if you want to. It’s all about doing you boo.
Do what makes you truly happy.

Don’t compromise your happiness because of what someone else may say or think or not say or not think.. Because it's about you feeling good about yourself, looking in our inner and outer mirror and loving what we’re seeing (from the inside out).
What we want is not necessarily what we need.

We’ve all been there, desperately wanting something (or someone) and thinking it’s the right thing for us. But then somewhere along the line, not getting it was the best thing that could have happened to us.
Take time off.

Off the internet, off the world, of everything that you need to take time off of. To explore yourself. Press the pause button. You can restart anytime you want. You have the power here. The power to refresh. To restart. To rejuvenate. To reinvent.
Love is everything.

Self love, love for God, love for your family and friends and loved ones. Love for everyone (yes, even the ones that make it hard to love them -keeping your distance while loving of course because of self preservation-)