A timeline of the last ten years...
'Hiking to the top of Mount Hallasan in Jeju Island, South Korea'
Where does the time fly? So much has happened in the last ten years yet it feels like everything passed in the blink of an eye. This time has been quite a roller coaster. What are your twenties meant for? Well for me it really has been a roller coaster but it all goes back to my growth. Your twenties are your time to grow the most. You go through highs, lows back to highs again. You learn so much about yourself through mistakes that turn into learning lessons.. You have regrets that you learn to let go. You build up the courage to go outside your comfort zone. You might travel the world and learn about all that is around you. You meet people who might stay for a season or a lifetime. You fall in love, you lose those that you love, you laugh and cry and just feel. In my opinion, your twenties are all about learning who you are on this earth and your purpose. So now that I am thirty flirty and thriving, I would like to reflect on the last ten years of my life and I hope that some of you can relate to my experience and even learn something new about yourself.
'My favorite place: Gangneum, South Korea'
The highs and lows: I once heard a saying "that wouldn't it be better if you were right in the middle, not too high and not too low... well think of a heart beat, it lowers and raises, if it meets in the middle... it flat lines. You don't want that. This might sound sad, but sometimes we need to experience the lows in our life to know that they are followed by highs in your life. I experienced plenty of lows but I always pushed through and came out on the other side of the rainbow. Through those lows you learn so many valuable life lessons. In those lows you let yourself feel your emotions, let out your feelings and simply allow yourself to heal. Downside, you definitely experience lows throughout your life but the upside... lows go away and like I mentioned before they are always followed by highs, so hang tight. You just have to be strong and push through.
'Cherry blossoms in Seoul, South Korea'
If you're reading this, whether you're starting out in your twenties or about to finish like me. You can take this as advice or choose to reflect on your own experiences. Your twenties are all about making mistakes and taking chances. That is simply how you go on to learn about yourself. Taking chances means going outside of your comfort zone and trying things that you never thought you would. Through this you will learn so much about yourself. I used to be a shy and quiet girl and that is always how I thought I would stay until I decided to do something daring. I tried out for musical theater and it broke me out of my shell. Living abroad in South Korea, becoming a teacher and now doing my dream job as a fitness coach... would have never happened if I didn't go outside my comfort zone in those moments. These experiences turned out to be the greatest moments in my life, so I am very thankful that despite what others had to say, their opinions didn't matter... I put aside any limits and just went for it. It can be scary at moments but once you strive for it, there is no going back but only growth to be experienced. My advice to you, don't just wonder but give it a shot. At the end of the day if you don't like it, move on and try something else that you might like. Hopefully you end up falling in love with it and it changes you to be the best version of you. So don't be afraid, take the leap because we really don't know how much time we have on this earth, so you have to live every day to the fullest.
'Photo taken by a true friend'
Travel and go everywhere. Your twenties are the best time to do that! Learning about the world around you will teach you something about yourself that you might have never known. It will open your mind to endless possibilities. I am blessed that I have had the opportunity to travel to many places in the last ten years of my life and every time I step foot into a new place, I learn something about their culture and most importantly something about myself. My greatest travel experience was going to South Korea. I ended up living there for two years and it was the best time. I could talk about that place forever but maybe in another blog. Mainly during my time there I learned how to become independent. See I come from a family where I was taught to be dependent on someone but I didn't like that cultural expectation. Living abroad opened my eyes to endless possibilities and taught me how to strive on my own. It helped me connect to other cultures and experienced the kindness of the people that come from it. It taught me to be different and to always take the road less traveled. It's not always comfortable but you'll never learn if you live in comfort. So, that is what I am doing today; taking the road less traveled and breaking generational curses and I have never been happier.
'Risked my life climbing these rocks to stand on the edge of the ocean haha. Sokcho, South Korea'
Through these experiences you will meet a plethora of people. Some of these people might stay for a season but somebody may end up becoming your soulmate and stay for a lifetime. That soul mate could be your partner, your best friend, your sibling. I believe you can have multiple soul mates. They are there to bring out the best version of you. In this last decade I have met so many people. Some were only there for a moment and I take that they only came into my life to teach me something so that I could move more towards my purpose. Some of these people were not the nicest but I am thankful they passed through because it taught me to be my true authentic self. See the things is you really can't learn who you are or what your purpose is without experiencing a little discomfort. So the people who have passed through your life might not have treated you the best but take it as if they were only there to teach you something about yourself, forgive them and move forward. It's like a dance. You are approached by someone and you dance away with them. When the dance ends you might part ways and that's it... they were there for a season. At times it is sad to part ways and at times you will be thankful you parted ways. At times the dance will continue and those people stay for all the seasons of your life. The good people you kept in your life; the ones that helped you grow. I call them lifers. As your twenties near the end, you will have gained these lifers. Your circle gets smaller because out of respect you only choose to dance with those who will lift you up and encourage you to keep growing and moving forward. I'm blessed to say I have an amazing circle of friends and family around me. It wasn't easy finding my circle but I am happy that the road led to many of you in my life. Some whom I reconnected with and have treated me like family, some who have been there from the beginning and some who are just dancing into my life. Know you are lifers and I appreciate each and every one of you :)
' My soulmate, my best friend, my loving sister'
Let's talk about love baby! I always imagined by the time I was thirty I would be married and starting a family but the Universe had other things in store for me. In your twenties you have probably fallen in love. I'm blessed to have experienced that love but it was only for a season and it taught me what the true meaning of love is about. It came with tears and laughter and lessons at the end. Love comes in all forms like love for a partner, love for family and friends and most importantly self love. I never really grasped the idea of self love until my mid twenties. Before that I was just in love with the idea of being in love, finding that perfect person and spending the rest of my life with them. Hopeless romantic right here, can you relate? Anyway love, simple right? no... before you can achieve that you must learn how to love yourself before you can love anyone else. Think about it, if you are not one hundred percent in love with yourself, how do you expect someone else to love you back with true authenticity. Loving someone means making them fall in love with themselves even more than they already are. That is the very idea of love, not fixing someone or trying to heal them but helping them see their true authentic self. Being there to comfort them when they need it and encouraging and bringing out the best in your person throughout the relationship. When that person falls even more in love with themselves because of you... they will love you no matter what. You don't have to seek it, you don't have to doubt it, you simply just breathe and exist with them and it should feel easy. That is why we might have more than one relationship throughout life. Dating helps you see whether this person will make you fall in love with yourself even more and bring out your true authentic self. If not then you have yet to meet your person. They could walk into your life at any moment unexpectedly or maybe it's someone from your past that you reconnect with or maybe you already met this person but you don't realize it yet. Whatever the case may be, I hope you get to experience that love at some point in your life.
'Sunshine in Guam'
With all these experiences you are shaped to become the amazing human that you are. Throughout your twenties you will learn who you are and become the best version of yourself. So if you're just starting out and you have no idea which way life is going to go... hang in there. It gets easier as you learn more about yourself. Spend your twenties learning about yourself and growing as much as possible. Your twenties are your time to seek your true authentic self and it will take time, so don't rush. Learn as much as you can, unlearn the bad things you have been taught in your life and relearn the good. This week I turned thirty and I know I am a completely different person than I was when I entered my twenties. I have learned so much about myself and I will continue to learn throughout the rest of my life. So, goodbye to my twenties... Thank you for shaping me and bringing in all the light in my life. There is always a light at the end of a tunnel. Hello my thirties. I am looking forward to continuing learning even more about myself. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! At this moment I am the happiest I have ever been.
I hope this blog helps anyone who is going through the ups and downs of life. Make sure to like and comment and feel free to share or ask any questions in the comments.