27 Lessons at 27

As I celebrate my 27th birthday, reminding myself of 27 things life has taught me well:

1. You are not the center of the universe. 
2. You are responsible for your own happiness, most of it at least.
3. If you respect yourself people will respect you, and if you love yourself people will love you. But don't expect everybody to.
4. You were not born to please every other person you meet.
5. Value yourself and be yourself. There really is no one "you'er than you". 
6. 'Right' and 'truth' are relative many times, quite uncomfortably so.
7. Flexibility is good, but you need a firm ground sometimes.
8. Don't act like you know a lot. You don't. You never arrive.
9. Don't try to find your worth in other people or other things.
10. Choose to be alone for a while, and enjoy it.
11. Don't put others in a box. Nor yourself.
12. The heart can be pretty deceptive. 
13. There is nothing wrong with changing your opinion about something. We're always learning.
14. Be the one to take the first step.
15. Scream out loud when you must. 
16. All pain is not bad. And everything that glitters is not gold. 
17. When you mourn, mourn fully because after that healing begins.
18. Courage does not mean no fear at all.
19. Take risks for people and things that matter. It's always worth it, no matter what the outcome.
20. Don't let others define who you are. Don't live their dreams.
21. Don't be obsessed with black & white because life consists a lot of grey. 
22. Maturity does not come with age.
23. Going with the flow works a lot of times. Other times, you need to take charge and steer.
24. Embrace your alone times. Especially when in a crowd.
25. Weird is better than fake.
26. It is okay to break rules sometimes. And sometimes you simply need to.
27. Alone is different from lonely, but they're both okay. 

Needless to say, this is not an exhaustive list. A good year to me! Cheers.

No. 28
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No. 30