36 Lessons I Wish I Had Known in My Younger Years
Teenagers are very inquisitive and often ask for wisdom in strange ways which more often than not leads to conversations with my students along the lines of, "I wish I had realized when I was your age that..." So, in honor of my 36th birthday tomorrow, I decided to reflect on 36 things I wished I had known when I was younger.
Your life will not turn out like you planned and that can be an absolute gift!
Life isn’t always meant to be safe.
The journey is more important than the destination.
You are not behind. You are exactly where the Lord has placed you and you have a purpose. (Esther 4:14)
You’re not too tall or too fat or too smart and beauty isn't mutually exclusive with being skinny.
Wear the heels… all of them and as tall as you want. People are well meaning but they are wrong. Any man worth noticing won’t be scared off by a pair of shoes. If he is, he ain’t the one!
All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and you might just conquer the world or at least your part of it.
Stop believing everything you think.
Being different is one of your greatest assets.
You are worthy of love. (Enneagram 2)
Stop chasing perfection! (Wing 1)
You are beautiful and desirable.
To the right person you won’t be too much.
It’s going to be worth the wait and the risk but you've got to trust the Father's plan.
Don’t waste your waiting.
If not, He is still good! (Daniel 3:18)
Love only given if earned isn’t love so stop people pleasing.
Stop self-sabotaging… yes, you are!
The request you laid before God, sitting in Ross Hall at 19, is going to take a LOT longer than you expect. Trust God. He is faithful and it’s worth the wait. It. Is. Soooo. Worth. The. Wait.
No option is sometimes the best option.
Learn to be still. (Psalm 46:10)
God’s plan for you is so much better and bigger than you could ever have dreamed. Even when you don’t understand it.
Living at home isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you. It doesn’t mean you are falling behind. It can be a super sweet time if you will lean into it.
Let your walls down. You aren’t fighting those battles anymore and it is okay to be soft and gentle.
Get out of your head and your comfort zone. There’s a big old world out there.
Read all the relationship books you can. Men are buffalos and your butterfly brain just can't grasp it. Learn as much as possible now.
There are only two relationships to worry about in your twenties… the relationship you have with God and the one you have with yourself.
Find 2AM friends that will laugh with you AND cry with you.
Life is full of consistent inconsistencies. Get used to it. It’s not something you can figure out with logic.
You're meant to be the leading lady of your life. Stop letting others convince you that you're just in the supporting cast.
Less bitter, more glitter!
Trust your discernment. It will save you a lot of heartache.
You can’t do it all and that doesn't make you a failure.
A life on autopilot isn’t a life at all.
Let Prince Charming rescue you… not just for your sake but for his.
You don’t have to have it all figured out by 30 or 36. If you stop learning, you stop growing and you might as well pack it in.
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