The first half of 2024 was truly a remarkable one.
I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to be writing this post right now. Truly, the beauty of life is that we never know what’s next.
I faced a lot of new challenges, ticked stuff off my bucket list, achieved some of my goals, picked and dropped hobbies, had jaw-dropping opportunities handed to me, experienced every possible emotion, did things out of my comfort zone, made core memories and most importantly, I learned lessons.
The lessons I’ve learned this year already are numerous but I’ve narrowed them down to 7 major ones that I think someone might need to hear today.
🤍 Believe people’s actions not words
They say actions speak louder than words. I agree, but as a person who loves words of affirmation and is a sucker for sweet words, I used to consider words to be super important. I hold people to their words sometimes which can be disappointing cause to most people, words mean nothing.
People just say words at the moment and move on. It takes a level of discipline, commitment, and consideration for someone to follow through with their words. Words are easy to speak, and actions take a lot so don’t get carried away with what people say. Watch their actions.
🤍 God always listens
God is always listening even in the times we think He isn’t. He’s actually always there.
We just need to trust His timing. This year reminded me that I’m living in my answered prayers.
It may take time but if it’s for you, it will surely come.
🤍 Life will go on so choose you always
Never prioritise anything above your health, your peace, your sustenance, your growth, your faith, or yourself. Always choose you.
Life will always throw stuff at you. You will always be busy. People or things will always need your attention. You need to study. You need to earn money. You need to assist your siblings. Your friends want to hang out. Your parents need you.
If you don’t take care of yourself first, you can’t fully show up for anyone else. And if you can’t show up to the point that they’re satisfied, they’ll get someone else to. So put you first!
🤍 Learn about finances
We are not taught a lot about managing finances. All we’re told is to save, invest, spend wisely, and budget but no one actually tells you how.
I realized that there is a lot I do not know about how money works and how to manage my finances so I’m trying to gain as much knowledge as possible.
The internet is literally in the palm of our hands. Resources are everywhere: books. videos, courses, etc. There is no excuse for not knowing or learning about stuff.
🤍 You can’t make someone change for you and you shouldn’t change for anyone
There’s a lady on Tiktok that said, ”At your exact weight, you are somebody’s dream girl. With your exact smile, you are somebody’s dream girl or guy. With your exact income, you are somebody’s dream girl or guy. If you never went to therapy again, you are still somebody’s dream guy or girl”, and it’s so true!
This can be a tough pill for people, including me sometimes. Especially when you feel like you’re just looking out for the other person or you believe that’s what’s best for them. But we need to let people figure out life on their own. Yeah, you can share your thoughts (if you’re in a position to i.e you’re close to the person or they asked you about it) but they’re not obligated to do what you say.
Same thing goes for you too. You should not do things solely because someone said you should or change things about you because someone said so.
Be yourself, flaws and whatnot, the people who will appreciate you and see your value will naturally gravitate to you. But also, work on self awareness and personal growth cause no one likes a person who doesn’t strive to improve themselves.
🤍 In every season, there is a blessing and a burden
Do not rob yourself of the joy of a season by crying about it’s burdens.
In every season, there will always be a blessing and a burden. How you live and remember that moment depends on what you choose to focus on.
I’m currently doing my compulsory internship. I have to wake up by 4:30am every day, face the stress of taking a public bus, sometimes getting home late, having to cook for the family, and going to bed late to be up very early the next day. If I choose to focus on those things, I will miss the fact that it is a blessing to even be qualified for this internship, I’m learning essential skills that will benefit me in the future, I get to meet various people and build my network during working and various blessings that I might not even realize until later.
🤍 Your trauma is not your fault but it is your responsibility to heal and grow from it
We cannot control the things that happen to us. We can’t control people’s actions but we can determine our own actions.
You can’t go around hurting people with the excuse that you’ve been hurt in the past. You can choose to tag something negative as your personality trait because it is a response that you developed for a trauma you experienced but that doesn’t make it excusable.
For your sake and no one else, work on yourself. You have no excuse.
I could keep going on and on if I let myself haha.
These are some of the major lessons I have learnt this year.
Thank you so much for reading!
What lessons have you learnt so far in 2024? Which of these lessons can you relate to?
It's IB!! 