#2017 lessons

Welcome again to the Guide’s January partnership with Brandi Kennedy of Brandi Kennedy: Love Stories and Lifestyle for the Undaunted Woman.  We thought we would create a Perspectives series where we did blog posts from a Single Mother’s and a Single Father’s perspective.  Make sure to keep following throughout the month of January to keep up on all of the different issues we will cover.  We will…

With just a few days left of 2017, I started reflecting on all the highs and lows of the year and it turns out that 2017 has been an incredible year. I have had the craziest and most exciting year of my life with many changes and life lessons.  I decided to write this blog post as a follow up to my resolutions I made earlier this year, reflecting on whether I achieved my goals and how I pushed…

Phew! It’s the last Monday of the year already! Merry Christmas!

I began this column on the 9th of January 2017 to share pearls I’ve picked up as I journey through life, with the aim of inspiring and encouraging people to live their best lives and achieve their personal goals.

As we journeyed through the year, virtually every lesson I learned, I shared on this platform and this last Monday of…

2017 is coming to an end just like every other year. 2017 started out great for me, I achieved my goals; bagged several awards like silver medalist, exemplary in conduct, service award, best speaker (during our frightening I-report in junior high)..etc.; met new inspiring people; made new friends; met and became friends with a cute college guy at school who’s into the same things as I am like theater aka became friends with who turned out to be my high school greatest crush; and lastly, I discovered a lot about myself and succeeded in making my dreams come to life.

Though all things (in this case, the year) end, the way things unfold will always be different — at least, for some. There were or weren’t big life events, sorrowful moments expressed through tears, challenges we thought we couldn’t overcome but did anyways, people leaving, quarrels between strangers and people close to us — a lot of things happened in one year. And with all those things, I learned so much. Here, I share the life lessons 2017 taught me.

1. Don’t sweat the small stuff. I mostly stressed myself out because of the little things not worth stressing for. This led me to feeling pressured, sickness, and nervousness. Stress will always be there but it’s up to us if we’ll let ourselves be stressed by things or we’ll fight it off by finding ways to destress. 

2. You’re gonna lose friends/people along the way and that’s okay. Things change over time and so do the people in our lives. We can’t expect someone to stay in our life forever when they weren’t even meant to stay there; when their main purpose is to just serve as a lesson. It’ll hurt but one day, you’ll look back and realize how thankful you are that you’re no longer friends with this person. Know that God removed him/her out of your life because s/he’s no longer meant to be there and it’s for the best.

3. If a person doesn’t show any interest to you, leave. This isn’t only applicable in romantic relationships but even to friendships as well. Watch out for the signs! Stop wasting so much of your time over someone who doesn’t want you to be a part of their life. Don’t sacrifice any more of your pride and dignity for it. 

4. You will always get through things. Sure, challenges are there. In fact, it is what actually makes us alive. But remember that we’ll conquer whatever challenges had been set for us no matter how tough it is. Like what I would always say, He will never put us in a situation we can’t handle; if He puts us through it, He’ll bring us through it. 

5. You deserve the best. This is what people are always forgetting. You deserve the best in your life, it may be a material thing or a person. Don’t ever settle for less than you deserve. You were made to have the best of things in your life because you’re special and you’re worth it. 

6. Be patient. All things take time and the best things in life take more time than everything else. I remember a line told by a guest speaker in one of our seminars held at school, “As you wait, it gets better.” 

7. Believe that you can. It’s all in the mindset! There are so many instances in my life where I had to go through the stages of self-doubt (this was brought by my anxiety before) but now that everything’s clear and I’ve recovered, believing in myself became easier. I get to do things without fear and when fear is set aside, everything becomes better.

8. Take some time for self-reflection. This is really important in our life. Sometimes, we forget that we’re slowly becoming the toxic person that we hate. While on the process of self-growth and self-love, reflecting upon your behaviour or past action is a must. It’s for the better, anyway. 

9. Set aside your fears. Sometimes, there are just some things in life that you just need to go for it, no questions asked. It’s one way to getting out of your comfort zone. 

10. You have to be alone at times and that’s definitely okay. All my life, I’ve been so used to having someone accompanying me everywhere I go and this year, I realised, sometimes, I just have to be on my own. It’s not everyday that someone will always be there to be with me (I’m just lucky my friends never get tired of me and all my please-come-with-me-to...). There’s nothing wrong with being alone as well and in the long run, you’re all by yourself.