37 Thoughts on Turning 37…

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Whilst it’s not a milestone birthday, turning 37 does firmly put in me in the ‘late 30s’ age bracket. I have been saying that I’m nearly 37 for the last 6 months so whilst it doesn’t feel like something new to say, it does feel new to ‘be’.

Whilst I don’t hold myself out as having any more wisdom than anyone else at my age, what I do have, is my 37 years of experiences and I’ve listed just 37 of my random thoughts on random things in life.

Here you are.

1. You can always make more money, but you can’t make more time. I live my life by this, yes you can do both, but know what is worth your time and energy.

2. It’s ok to make new friends. Some of my friends I’ve known since I was in nursery, school, college and uni, others I’ve made in recent years. You change a lot in your life and so should your social circle.

3. Introduce your friends to your other friends.

4. Practice ignoring circumstances that aren’t reflecting what you want at this moment, stay focussed on what you want and have faith that you’ll get it.

5. I think it’s a good idea to have a hobby that you escape from the world to indulge in. My is skincare.

6. Always pay it forward.

7. You can always change your mind. Things change, people change, desires change, your opinions change.

8. Confidence is the number one thing I am keen to encourage in Poppy. Tell yourself you’re confident and you will be. Keep working on building your confidence with positive self-talk and gradually you’ll have more belief in yourself.

9. Dancing is so good for the soul. They say ‘dance like no one is watching’, but who cares if they’re watching?! Who cares if you have no rhythm? Move your body, it’s so good for you.

10. I’m not really striving to be good at everything. It’s ok to have things you’re not very good at. I’m aware of the things that aren’t my forte, so take my time with those things, but I won’t put myself under pressure to be great at them. I’m good at what I’m good at and that’s enough.

11. Poppy asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up this week and I had at least three different ways that I thought about spending my time, which were totally unrelated to what I’m doing now. It was such an eye-opening question. What do you want to be when you grow up?

12. Don’t be afraid of what others think of you, it’s likely that they’re worried about what you think of them. This is such a waste of energy.

13. Engaged and active listening is much more important than talking.

14. A walk in the sunshine will clear your head so well. A walk in the woods is even better.

15. Social media is for entertainment purposes only. Take it all with a pinch of salt, tell your children this regularly too. Turn it off or put it down occasionally.

16. I think we all have a creative itch within us. I enjoy being creative online and showing my silly side when I create content. I have sometimes worried that this silliness might not be ‘professional’, but I am very much over that! I don’t represent my employer on social media. Have fun, don’t take it too seriously, we’re blowing off steam.

17. Let your children see you enjoying yourself and having fun, I want to let Poppy see that there is nothing to fear about adulthood. Grown-ups have fun too you know!

18. A person that parented a child 20+ years ago does not know what it is like to parent today. We need different skills to parent in the digital age we now live in, respectfully.

19. Drink more water!

20. Travel alone. Visit random places that you’ve always wanted to see. Eat at restaurants you have read reviews about. Use Pinterest to plan, stay in different places along the way, travel light and organise to meet friends at various check-points if you want to. Sleep in the middle of the bed while you’re there!

21. Take photos that you have developed and keep between you and your loved ones, the world doesn’t need to see everything. We don’t need likes on everything.

22. It is a good idea to learn how to love and to learn how to be loved.

23. Support your friends’ dreams – encourage them whenever you can.

24. Close friends are your chosen family.

25. If you seek, you shall find. This works for both negative and positive things.

26. There is a lot to be said for having friends of different ages; you can learn from everyone and anyone can inspire you. Children can teach you so many things, as can elders.

27. If you feel pressure from social media, have a break and focus on genuine connections with people; even though we’re connected online all the time, we should share our real lives with each other.

28. Poppy will never hear me criticise my body. She will hear the opposite and she will see me enjoy food without guilt.

29. Less is always more – especially when it comes to Botox and fillers.

30. Wear what you want. I truly love seeing people experimenting with their style.

31. Say ‘I love you’ often, it doesn’t need rationing.

32. We can have diversity of thought and still co-exist.

33. I thought I would have it all figured out by now, but I really and truly do not and that’s ok. I actually think that might be my whole life’s work. I’ll let you know when I’m 97.

34. Simple does not mean easy. The rules of most sports are very simple, but this does not make them easy to play very well. Most concepts in life seem ‘simple’ but they are, in fact, not very easy at all.

35. For those of you that want to read more, but think you don’t have enough time, audiobooks are great, try them.

36. “Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you’re right.” This is my favourite Henry Ford quote.

37. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” I can thank my parents for this one.

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