27 Life Lessons I’ve Learned by 27

I don’t know about you, but I’m always more reflective around my birthday. Here's 27 lessons I've learned, mostly in the last year, to celebrate my birthday. Happy birthday to all my fellow pisces!

27 Lessons in 27 Years: Wisdom, Growth, Healing, & Self-Discovery

1. No one has it all figured out. Social media makes it appear that way, but no one knows what they are doing.

2. Prioritize yourself. I can’t believe how much I prioritized work and relationships over my health. For what?!?! This year, my health always came first and it’s been a ripple effect for the rest of my life.

3. Opening a High Yield Savings and Roth IRA is waaaay easier than I thought it would be. I’m kicking myself for not breaking up with Bank of America sooner.

4. No. “No” is a complete sentence.

5. Quality over quantity in friendships. I used to have a ton of friends… but now, I have 3-5 close friends and I’ve never felt more fulfilled in my friendships.

6. Friendship breakups are harder than romantic breakups and that isn’t talked about enough.

7. You are not your career, your job, or your relationship status. You are worthy just as you are.

8. Your family doesn’t have to know everything. We can all agree authenticity is important, but sometimes your family just doesn’t get it. Some battles are not worth being fought. Always protect your peace.

9. Daily sunshine and walking make a drastic difference in my life. Who knew?

10. We’re all going to die one day and none of this is going to matter. You will be forgotten. This sounds morbid, but it relieves me of a lot of pressure. I used to want to leave a legacy, but that doesn’t matter to me anymore. I will impact whoever I’m destined to impact in my lifetime, and that’s more than enough for me. We’ll all be dead anyway.

11. Someone is going to stub their toe and forget about you. I mean this in the best way possible. Literally, no one cares. I’m guilty of thinking way too much about what people think about me and overanalyzing interactions, but it really does. not. matter. I promise.

12. People are going to judge you no matter what so you might as well just do whatever it is you want anyway. Do you boo.

13. Investing in hobbies is worthwhile. Having a bachata or salsa class always gives me something to look forward to every week.

14. You don’t need a new outfit for every occasion. It pained me to write that. But it’s true. You really don’t need a new anything.

15. Social media is a big-ass timewaster. Downloading the free app ScreenZen for app-blocking was truly life changing because I’m no longer doom-scrolling. Social media isn’t going anywhere,, and I’m choosing to use it for the good. But I refuse to let it negatively affect my mental health anymore.

16. Not everyone deserves your time or energy. I used to be way too fucking nice to people who didn’t earn an ounce of my energy.

17. Waiting for the perfect time is silly because it doesn’t exist.

18. Give the voice inside your head a silly name to take away its power. I named the voice in my head Gertrude because she’s always inTRUDING on my thoughts. 99% of your thoughts are not true and just slow you down. We are our own mountain.

19. Finding a therapist with a similar background is worth paying out of pocket for. saves so much time explaining yourself and gets to the root cause much quicker. My therapist is from Bosnia and she gets me.

20. Fewer things really do equal more happiness. It took me a long time to believe that. Maybe the minimalists were right all along.

21. Adding more variety to your diet is the easiest way to improve your gut health and overall health. I don’t know how I used to survive on Trader Joe’s frozen Indian entrees and two boring meal prep dishes per week…

22. Drinking alcohol is not for me anymore. I’m not against it, I’m just not about all the side effects or using it as an anxiety reliever when it doesn’t even work as one.

23. Learning and remembering people’s names goes a long way.

24. Listening to my body has been like learning a new language. Her (my body) and I don’t always get each other but I’m doing my best to listen and understand after years of ignoring her.

25. Reconnecting with your inner child is one of the most healing things I did.

26. Randomly calling your friends instead of scheduling a time to talk is the move.

27. Time is the only thing you will never get back. I’ve always been obsessed with time and how we spend it. These days, I’ve been questioning how I spend my time and making every day count. This used to be about how much I can travel, but now, it’s more about the small things in life.

Thank you for reading these. It’s a gift to be able to write freely and connect. Writing is a skill I’ve always wanted to improve and practice.

If any of these spoke to you, I would love to know which resonated with you the most.

Creds: My fiance, Firas, inspired #10 & #11. Thank you for helping me find meaning in life 🤍