HELLO 36! Words of Wisdom That I would give my 26 Year Old Self

When the ball dropped at the start of the year, and we left 2019 behind, we entered a new decade with high hopes. People looked forward to having “2020 vision”, and with the election lurking ahead, they ultimately looked forward to a brighter and more transformative decade.

However, at the start of the year for me personally, that meant that I was turning 36. This meant 10 years a mom and most importantly 10 years of learning experiences in one of the most important roles that one could ever have.

So I’m looking back and sharing some things that I would tell my younger self.  

If you’re not happy with where you are, it’s ok to jump ship. Trying to look at the positive and brighter side of things led me to wasting too much time in a position that was getting me nowhere. 10 years ago, I was 2 years into working a retail job as an assistant store manager and had just had my first child. Already not where I wanted to be, each day I tried to find the positive in the work that I was doing, the lessons that I had learned, and what I had “achieved”. But I was miserable and spent years in a dead end job that I should have left years before.

Motherhood is what you make it. I honestly thought that I would be giving up so much in life once I became a mom. See being a mother was honestly something that I never thought I would be able to grasp because quite frankly, I just didn’t like kids. It took someone to open my eyes to the idea that I may just not like kids that weren’t my own. She assured me that someday I’d love kids of my own. Then one day, I went from a weekend in Vegas and planning my next trip, to a positive pregnancy test that elevated my existence and bit of my life. With consistent revisions, I’ve made motherhood what I’ve wanted it to be gained more that I could ever imagine.

Leave the card alone– There’s honestly not much to be said here because you already know! I made so many financial mistakes and the biggest one is getting in debt- one card at a time.

You’re right where God wants you to be– Those not so perfect experiences allowed me to grow and learn so much. They also put me in places that provided me the opportunity to impact and connect with people that I’ll be forever grateful for.

“Just because its hard, doesn’t mean it’s not God” I’ve seriously experienced some things that put me in places where I never imagined I’d be. I thought to myself that, “this can’t be God, so it must’ve been the devil”. But the outcomes were always transformative for me- so it must’ve been him.

Bet on yourself & chase your dream unapologetically – Period!

Buy that ticket hun! Go ahead and take that trip. Invest in more memories and experiences.

Do it scared– I’ve always been afraid to take risks. But the few times that I have, I never regretted it. I mean, what do you have to lose? Like I’ve read recently online “Excuses kill more dreams than failure ever have”

These last 10 years I’ve matriculated through life as best as I could with the knowledge that I had at the time. And that’s all anyone can do.

And even with all of the lessons learned and bad decisions made, there are still very few things that I would’ve done differently.

The last 10 years can’t be redone, but what I can do is try to make a difference in the next 10.

Cheers to the next decade!