23 Thing I Learned at Age 23

So this past Sunday, I had the blessing of having a birthday during this absolutely crazy and hectic time. Last year for my birthday I was celebrating in Paris, so chilling all day at home for my 23rd was absolutely sufficient. Despite having a non exciting day, I was able to relax, spend time with family, and enjoy the sun (meanwhile it’s now blizzarding in Denver). Over the past year, I’ve learned a lot about myself, graduating college, dealing with the death of someone, getting to travel the world, and so much more! So here are the 23 things I’ve learned when turning 23.

1. Life is never going to go as expected. After graduating college, for the first 6 months, my life was well crafted and really flying towards the direction of my dreams. I was working in a non profit in Costa Rica, followed by spending an amazing three months in South America, to then be blindsided by getting rejected from my dream job. Suddenly, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and felt so useless. Since these moments and Corona taking over, I really realized you can’t truly plan your life and have to go with life’s never-ending curveballs. 
2. Life is so fragile. This year was the year I finally had people in my life passing away, and it was tough, and filled with one thousand and one tears, but also put so many things into perspective. And most of the deaths were people my age, and it felt so wrong, and like we were way too young, but helped me realize the importance of keeping friends close, enjoying the moment, and not wasting time.
3. Being strong is much better than being skinny. This was the year, I had to deal with many weight fluctuations, and at times it drove me crazy. I felt like I was constantly fighting to lose weight and would never see results, to realize it was such a waste of energy, and I should truly only be doing workouts that make me happy. I found that being strong and being able to kick ass at the gym was a much better feeling than cutting calories and counting them.
4. Nature is my favorite thing in the world. I already kind of knew this, but after going on multiple backpacking trips, and working job where I just led hikes, I realized how utterly happy I am when I can involve nature in my life each day. It has connected me to some of those most challenging but rewarding aspects of my life.
5. The job applying process is the most demoralizing activity. Even before this Corona madness, I was having trouble landing a job. Being unemployed and having rejections fly in each day, and thinking you killed an interview to find that you didn’t get the position can be heart breaking and so exhausting. It’s hard not to take things personally and beat yourself up, but nonetheless you have to persevere. 
6. Post college is a weird time. For the first time in your life having no set schedule and getting to make all your decisions creates the weirdest feeling in my stomach. I am so used to my brain being programed from high school to go to college to college to get that job, but once you’re there, living in a new city, trying to make adult friends, and adjusting to a new  life can be really uncomfortable. 
7. I’m terrible with change if it feels like I’m not progressing. When I moved back home after traveling, I have never felt so far behind. It felt like I took a big step backwards to live with my parents and I couldn’t find purpose in my day. Without a job, I really felt like I couldn’t accomplish anything, but slowly learned the importance of having a clean space, eating well, and working out each day at a minimum to stay sane.
8. Deep cleaning is so therapeutic. I’ve always been a messy gal, so messy spaces have rarely bothered me. What I realized is while messy superficial spaces don’t bother me, not knowing what is in my space completely ruins the energy of a room. I hated coming home to my room and having no idea what was under my bed, or what clothes were in my closet, or where things were. Now after doing a super thorough deep clean of my room, I have been able to take control of my space. This new mentality has also encouraged me to clean lots of spaces in my house.
9. Eating badly doesn’t make me feel good. This probably sounds intuitive, but when I was younger eating a bunch of sweets or junk food had little effect on my energy and felt just fine. As I’ve gotten older I see tangible negative outcomes when I eat poorly. Of course this realization hasn’t given me amazing will power, so I still will crush a bag of chips or eat four cookies, but at least I am recognizing the impact food has on my wellbeing. 
10. Savings are important. I have a balanced hippie free spirit side paired with a more financially savvy mentality. I love spending money on experiences and find it important, but I think this crisis of Corona has really made it clear how important having some extra savings are. I have been living with my parents for the last three months and see the merit in doing so to save money. I will be super careful with future leases and choices to ensure I’ll be able to keep up with the costs in case a crash happens.
11. I will always prioritize travel. Travel is what makes me feel so free, and I will always prioritize it. Even though 11 was about saving, I will always try to keep a fund going for future travel. Right now, it’s pretty hard to think about the next time I’ll travel, but I will always try to take risks with it, because I think its truly worth it.
12. Travel insurance is important. To piggy back off the last one, I have become slightly less care free but also a smarter traveler. I used to never think about travel insurance, but on my last trip I had it as I was climbing to high altitudes and fighting various illnesses. It was nice to know if anything happened with a flight, or something was stolen, that I would be compensated. Especially, with people trying to take their two weeks vacation abroad, insurance is huge! Things can go wrong so fast and especially internationally so spending that extra on insurance is huge.
13. Podcasts are a great way to get up to date. In the past, I felt like I didn’t have time to watch the news or read books, but I still wanted to learn. Podcasts have allowed me to combine working out while keeping informed. I consume so many podcasts a day of various genres and can get up to date news information, improve my Spanish, or just have a moment of laughter with a more lighthearted one.
14. Cooking isn’t that hard. In college, I failed many times to try to cook, and realized recipes really save you. I never knew the proportions to prepare something, or the right spices to pair, but with recipes, I’ve been able to learn and can now improvise. I see what flavors work well together and have been able to try all sorts of new recipes.
15. Journaling is a future gift. I am so happy I have kept up with journaling because some of my best moments are reflecting on past entries. I’m lucky to have started jotting some thoughts down in high school and have continued to do so. Seeing my thoughts from one year ago or three years ago is refreshing and helps put everything into perspective.
16. A walk a day is enough. When I moved back home, I was in a huge funk and sometimes all I could get myself to do is walk my dogs. Even though it felt like I hadn’t accomplished much, I felt great that I had at least gotten those moments with fresh air, made my dogs happy, and moved a little. 
17. Creating is an amazing hobby. I have gone on and off with watercoloring and various crafts, but this year I really focused on creating things, whether it was videos, art, or writing a letter. Creating things keeps me sane and is so helpful for feeling productive with free time. 
18. Friendships can come from all walks of life. Throughout the past year, I have been able to connect with so many types of people. Age, nationality, and personality were all constructs I was living by previously. I befriended types of people I never thought I would and have loved the amazing connections I’ve made. Whether it’s a 30 year old from France, or a 15 year old I was supervising, I have been able to learn so much from a range of people.
19. I am capable of so much more than I thought. This summer working multiple hours a week in a scenario I never expected, accomplishing 20 mile backpacking days, and addressing loneliness in a positive light, I have been able to see I can do so much more than I thought. 
20. Crying is okay. After a hiatus of crying, 22 had so many days of tears. And its okay! I realized how fine it is to be in tune with your emotions and it’s probably a good thing if you can directly express how you’re feeling.
21. Staying in touch is everything. As I keep meeting people, and moving away from people I love, staying in touch is so important. Friendships can so easily slip away because of lack of effort, so I always try to prioritize my communication. 
22. Letters are easy to write and send. Piggy backing off the last one, I have began loving to write letters. I am a huge gift giver but money is not endless, but a letter is an easy way to make someone’s day and very affordable to send.
23. Staying positive can save so much energy. I’ve wasted so much energy fighting anxiety and overanalyzing everything, when really if I just surrendered to situations and focused on the positives, I would able to progress much faster.

Thanks for reading and let me know something you learned about yourself this year!