20 Lessons I Learned in My 20's

Age is nothing but a number, right?  Not necessarily!  My journey through life has taught me several lessons that I have to share with you.

My thoughts on certain issues may be in line with yours.  Then again, they may not.  But, I want to open your mind to the possibility that we see some things very differently and others just the same.

Here are 20 things I have learned in my 20s:

1. If you continue to live in the past, you will miss the present, and you will never have a future.  Life goes on and so do we.  Keep it moving.  You can’t change the past.  It is those experiences that have made you into who you are today.  Give yourself permission to live life like it’s golden. No regrets!
2. Time flies, so make it count.  Before you know it, time will have gone by and you won’t have anything to show for it.  You will look back on all these shoulda, coulda, woulda’s and missed out on life.  Don’t let life pass you by.
3. Everybody is not for you…including your family.  Some people will not have your best interest at heart.  They will smile in your face, but try to cut you at the knees in any way that they can.  Even family members are the very ones who don’t want you to do well.  Do you and stay real, recognizing those for you and those against you.
4. If you are the smartest person in the room, then you need to go to a new room.  Surround yourself with people who will make you better.  It’s great to give advice and pour it into others, but who is pouring into you?
5. You can’t tell everybody everything.  Everybody can’t handle it. This includes social media like Facebook and Twitter. Learn to keep some stuff to yourself.
6. It is important to live an authentic and honest life. Living a life that makes everyone else happy, but you’re living a lie, is not fair to you or to those around you.
7. It is never too late to change your mind. As soon as you realize the need to make another choice, admit it to yourself, and then do it.
8. Either you make an excuse or you make a way. What’s your excuse?  We all have them. Rather than make an excuse, just do it.  You are not getting any younger.  Get off your butt and get er’ done!
9. If you don’t learn the lesson the first time, you will repeat it. I can’t tell you how many times I have repeated the same mistakes only just to recognize what I should have learned a long time ago. Get the lesson the first time, so you won’t have to do it over.
10. When you know better, you do better.  Learn from your mistakes and failures.  They make you a better person and you will not make the same mistakes again.\
11. In everything, there is a lesson to learn. It is a hard lesson to learn, but I have learned that there is a purpose for why things happen.
12. It takes a good friend to tell you your mistakes. If you are surrounding yourself with “Yes” people, then you are not growing. “Yes” people are only in the way!!!!
13. Friendships come and go.  And if you are lucky to find some true friends, hang on tight to them.  Let’s be real. True friends are few and far between.
14. What you won’t do, someone else will.  Don’t be mad when someone else starts to appreciate the person you took for granted.
15. Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. You have to know when to speak and when to just shut up!
16. There is no such thing as a free lunch.  You have to work for everything you get.  Nothing will just be handed to you.
17. You can’t save everybody.  Some people need to learn for themselves.  You can give advice, your opinions or even tell them exactly what to do, yet they still will do what they want to do.  Some people need to nearly drown to see where they went wrong or how they could have done something differently.  Everyone cannot be rescued by you.  Sometimes they have to rescue themselves.
18. When people tell you who they are, believe them.  When people show you that they are crazy, vindictive, or an adjective that describes their behavior, you have no choice but to take their word for it.  They have no reason to lie, they have shown you already.
19. You can’t keep anyone, who doesn’t want to be kept.  If someone wants to walk out of your life, let them.  You are better off with someone who wants to be around you than someone who’s taking you for granted.
20. Your opinion and what you think of me is none of my business. If you live your life based on what others think of you, it will be hard to get out of bed every day.  People will talk about you behind your back and some to your face.  You are not here to please others.