“Thirty, flirty and thriving.” That’s what my sister-in-law Charlotte wrote inside my birthday card. I like it. Especially the thriving part. I feel like that’s a great way to describe how I feel as I cross over into my third decade of living. As I paddled around Trout Lake last evening, I contemplated some of the best lessons that I have learned over the last 30 years. I have to say that I am very excited that I get to carry these lessons throughout the rest of my days, knowing that they will help immensely in whatever is to come. A grab bag of coping skills so to speak.
As I made my way around the little island on my board, I compiled a short list of my most prominent “aha moments” as of late…as of turning 30. I’ll keep ‘em short and sweet. I'll also divide them up into a series of posts. This way, you can [hopefully] take something away from them and perhaps think about how each one may or may not resonate with you. Here we go: Let Your Freak Flag Fly (and don't overthink it) You’ve probably heard the saying “you do you baby, you do you.” I think I finally started letting me be me in my late 20s. I was a funny, quirky kid growing up. Somewhere in the mix though, I started to try to fit in and to say and do "all the right" things. You hear it all the time that people will appreciate you more if you present the truest version of yourself to the world. No, not everyone will like you but honestly that doesn't matter! The right people will appreciate you. The ones that matter. I think back to grade 9 when we all had to have the same American Eagle jeans and hoodie. Yup, I fell into that. Self expression and being unique is so much more fun and freeing. Sometimes I’ll say or do something that is “uniquely me” and I’ll start to hear that little voice in the back of my head saying “hmmmm…was that a little much maybe?” or “maybe next time you could think twice before you say something like that.” Well, maybe sometimes that little voice does have a point but a lot of the time it does not. You shouldn't believe everything you think. Acknowledge the thought as just a thought, and move on. Like I said, don’t overthink it.
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