37 Things I have learned at 37
- A lot of things (being a parent, marriage, travelling) look way more fun on Facebook than they are in real life.
- There is a divine timing to your life. If you rush it or force it: you will lose. Be patient.
- You can only ever understand your life looking back at it.
- The more you plan a fun day off/vacation/night out, the greater the severity of illness your child will come down with.
- Some of your best friends and family don’t know how to handle your grief. This does not mean that they love you any less.
- Yoga is therapy for the soul. Seriously.
- Things that can be good for you can also be bad for you (red wine, coffee, whole grains). It’s your job as you age to know the difference.
- It’s the small, daily things that make change. Begin one small daily positive habit each month and in a year, your life will be different.
- Meditate. Trust me on this one.
- Post-secondary education isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.
- Don’t participate in tearing down other women: not their businesses, their lip injections, their weight. Gossip is a cancer among women. You either help it grow or cut it out.
- By that same token, if a friend talks shit about everyone else, they are doing it about you. Yes- even you.
- You deserve a clean and comforting bedroom.
- Everything is “figureoutable” (thanks, Marie).
- You teach people how to treat you, so lead by example.
- It might be hard to see now, but you actually DO have all the answers inside of you. Find people to help you uncover them.
- You’re not the only one doing or thinking that weird-ass thing you’re ashamed about. Let it go.
- You’re only as “sick as your secrets”. Talking about it takes your power back.
- Your body image woes have less to do with your actual body and more to do with the never-ending stream of media and social programming. For the love of God, begin to realize this.
- Look for the friends who are cheering you on while you’re really kicking ass. Those are special people.
- Understand that you have the power to heal or stop your destructive family cycle.
- It’s not a good idea to get a tattoo that you picked off of the wall at the tattoo shop on Canada Day Weekend when you’re 22.
- A 1000-piece puzzle almost always is a better idea when you’re just putting the edges of it together.
- It is in the darkest of times that your light is revealed.
- Love it the greatest healer of all, so don’t rule it out for yourself.
- Don’t believe the hype: it’s actually NOT THAT HARD to meet someone. You just need to be prepared to be vulnerable.
- A big necklace and large earrings are, in fact, too much. Except when they’re not.
- You’ve never wasted your money if you’ve purchased a book.
- If you toast sliced almonds, they taste so much better and make everything fancy and crunchy, while delivering a real protein punch.
- If you think you’re drinking too much, you are. Put down the wine and go to yoga, Janice.
- You can only take people as far as you’ve taken yourself.
- People can only take you as far as they’ve taken themselves- choose your helpers and healers with care.
- Everybody just wanted to be validated.
- No matter what the behaviour, no matter how outrageous, there is a valid reason for everything if you look closely.
- Self-compassion is the way.
- If you REALLY want to take care of yourself, prioritize sleep.
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This life can be hard. Realize that there is enough to go around and accept that we do, in fact, desperately need each other.