1. You are worth standing up for.
2. Your voice matters; use it!
3. It's okay to put your foot down. Stomp it when that makes sense. Walk away sometimes too.
4. You'll make poor decisions and stupid mistakes. You will also learn from them.
5. Embrace the power of choice. Yours and others.
6. You've never been competitive. Let go of thinking you've failed when you aren't the first.
7. If someone doesn't like you, don't sweat it. You don't particularly like everyone either.
8. Leave the self-examination to God. His grading scale is much more lenient.
9. Let others in.
10. Love isn't a romantic comedy.
11. Practice kindness, compassion and patience every chance you get. Especially with your grandparents. You won't have them long enough.
12. You won't be married at 30. Don't waste your 20s worrying about it.
13. You'll never comprehend how you could love kids you didn't birth as much as you love A, R and K. Hold them, rock them, let them sleep in your arms and kiss them every chance you get.
14. Enjoy this time. You only get one chance to live each day.
15. When you catch Pat Green's guitar pick, put it in your bra. Don't set it on your leg when you call your brother to tell him about it. It will slide off and disappear forever.
16. You survive.
17. At thirty, you have the opportunity to reconnect with some amazing women. You find yourself pouring your heart out and confessing some things serious and silly. You will find yourself wondering how you got so lucky as you read/hear their advice, support and encouragement.
18. With that, you realize that God is in control and gives you exactly what and who you need when you need it/them.
Ironically, as I wrote this list, I realized how much my 31 year old self needed these reminders too.
6 comments:
#7 is particularly hard for me. I think now I worry a little less about being liked by every person than I used to, but it still bothers me.
I would add, "take good care of your skin even though you're still young and it looks fine now!"
I loved Lacy's list, and I love yours just as much. Both made me tear up a bit. It's funny that someone else's list could strike such a chord with me, but what can I say? Deep down, we're all kind of the same.
#8, #10 and #17 are fantastic. You did a great job writing these.
I often wish our group could have reconnected when we were in our 20s but like you said, this is all about God's timing! With you girls in my life, my 30s just may be my best years yet (and I only see it getting better from there!).
Girls - Thank you for being so sweet.
I agree - it's amazing how similar we all are regardless of current circumstances and our backstories.
Jennifer - I too wish we'd reconnected a long time ago, but if we had, my list would have likely lacked some lessons. I'm glad we have our time now and so much future still ahead of us (God-willing).
What an amazing list...I hope to write one of my own.
#1, #17 perfect. I love you!
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