Last May, I celebrated my 2 decades of being a human on this beautiful planet called Earth.
One of my personalities that I noticed to myself is that I am the type of person who loves listing down. And so before I turned 20, I decided that I will list 20 things I am truly grateful for in my 20 years being alive.
Here's how it went...
#1 I am blessed to have my mother.
I mentioned my top 5 big goals in my introductory post: Let's be friends!. One of them is to give back to my mother. Don't get me wrong. I also love my father and the rest of our family, but there's something that I really feel towards my mom. I consider myself as a mama's girl. My mom is my favorite person. She's very kind, religious, hardworking, understanding, very positive, caring, selfless, and all the flowery descriptions. She takes care of us when we get sick, she always make sure that we're okay, and all the caring stuff. I am so blessed to have a mother like her. β€οΈ
#2 I am grateful for the experiences I had.
I have met other acquaintances and friends of mine who weren't able to join such events because they didn't want to, they were not allowed by their parents, and other personal reasons.
In my case, as much as possible ever since I was in elementary and up until now, I almost always join any activities or events such as camps, outings, road trips, missions, parties, sleepovers, and the likes. I am glad that I somehow go out of my comfort zone, my parents aren't that strict, schools have events, and my friends invite me over.
Looking back now that we've been experiencing a pandemic for quite a long time, I realized that I am extremely grateful that I really took the opportunities to join activities, occasions, and other events. Those are memories that I am going to treasure forever.
#3 I learned personal finance at an early age of 17.
I still remember that days or weeks before I turned 18, before I stepped into the maturity age, I came across a video of Chinkee Tan about finance stuff. Since then, I started to binge-watch his videos and I can say that he's the reason why I turned into a finance enthusiast right now. Although, after watching dozens of his videos, I stopped and unsubscribed from him cause I noticed that he always mentioned about him having a workshop or something that you have to pay. After that, I watched other finance vloggers and learned so much from them up to this day.
#4 I have savings.
I am glad that I have because I don't need to ask for money from my parents every time I need or want to buy something. I still do ask for money from my parents but not all the time and not too much because I feel shy. Hehe.
#5 I started investing at 18.
I still remember how I decided to got my first investment. It was our CET (College Entrance Exam) review season. Instead of focusing all my time into reviewing, I made time to read articles and watch on YouTube the things about basic investing. I sometimes even stayed up until 3 am just to gather information, not because to review. π€¦
Back then, I always read and heard from finance gurus that at the young age and if you have excess amount of money, you must start investing already because "time is gold". They said that those who started investing while they are still teens or in the early 20s, time is their biggest edge. Because as time goes by, the money invested is compounding interest and a young age don't have much financial responsibilities yet such as paying bills, having families, and so on. Might as well save or invest your excess money. I was very convinced back then, but looking back, I don't have any regrets. Here's a quote that I wanna share related to investing...
"If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." βWarren Buffett
#6 I started to try side hustle at 17.
By doing so, I learned many things such as doing logos, covers, handling social media account, what to caption, interacting with customers, etc. Those may seem small, but it is an advantage for me to at least know something in this field.
#7 I got into my dream university with my dream course.
Where I am studying college right now has no tuition so I'm grateful for that cause I don't feel like a burden to my parents. Also through my course, I am thankful because it pushes me to be out of my comfort zone and made me realize that I can do things I thought I couldn't.
#8 I am grateful for some people.
They are instruments of God which lead us closer to worshipping our Creator. They helped us in so many ways.
#9 I developed a frugal mindset.
This helped me in increasing my savings and investments, not keeping up with Joneses, and not feeling FOMO most of the time.
#10 I discovered people online that I can look up to, instead of following fake influencers.
In today's generation, there are too many influencers already. I am glad that I only follow people that have substance and not just looks. Some of the influencers that I admire are Ayn Bernos, Angely Dub, Kristen Leo, Llyan Oliver Austria, Nicole Alba, etc.
#11 I am privileged to have a home, my own bedroom, and be with my family.
I am aware that not everyone has these, that's why I am always grateful every time I think that I have these. These may be simple and are necessary, but these are big deals for me.
#12 I have friends that help me grow.
I have always kept a small circle of friends and I am not that a social butterfly. I am grateful for my close friends because they are supportive, also frugal (matipid kami haha), and I just like their personality in general. I am lucky to be surrounded by them.
"You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with. Choose carefully."
#13 I am able to spend time with myself which makes me more self-aware and independent.
I am 20 and single since birth, but I am fine with it. By staying single for such a long time, I got to know myself more. I am aware my likes and dislikes, what works for me and what doesn't, my goals, my future plans, and son. I also got to work on being a strong independent woman as I don't depend most of my time toward someone else. I am grateful to myself for being single in general, and not rushing to be in a relationship. π
#14 I practiced gratitude.
When I started to have a bullet journal, I develop a habit of listing down things I am grateful on daily basis, may it be small or big thing, I still list it down. Practicing gratitude helped me to look on a brighter side and made me realized that life is full of wonderful things. I learned to be contented and not to always ask for more.
Be grateful for even the smallest things like a roof above your head, food on your table, your eyes for getting to read this right now, your gadget that you're using as of the moment, your internet connection, having a water, talking to a friend, and the list goes one. If you practice gratitude everyday, I swear it will make you smile and feel fulfilled everyday as well.
#15 I don't get peer pressured easily.
I'm glad I didn't drink alcohol excessively at a young age, I never smoked or did drugs, and hook-up culture never hooked me. Basically, those trendy activities that other thinks are cool, I don't find them cool at all. Watching k-dramas and reading Jonaxx stories... I think those are cool. π
#16 I stay lowkey.
Since then, I don't overshare my personal information to anyone, even to my close friends. I like keeping things private. Personally, I am grateful to myself for doing that.
"Privacy is power. What people don't know, they can't ruin."
#17 I go out of my comfort zone in terms of doing arts.
I admit that I'm not that good in arts but I'm glad that I ventured into it and even made it my course. Well, not really, but arts is somehow a part of my course.
#18 I am glad that I pray each night before I go to sleep.
This has been part of evening routine since I was a kid. Having a spiritual connection is an awesome feeling. There were times where I even cried when praying cause I let all my emotions and tell it to God.
#19 I started to get conscious of my physical health around Grade 9.
Because of it, I knew more about my body. I somehow learned how to eat right, how important it is to exercise, and to prioritize sleep.
I realized that I don't have a fast metabolism like others. Mine is not that fast and not that slow, just in the middle I guess? That's why I should somehow watch what and how much I eat.
#20 I am grateful for the free education on the internet.
Since I was in elementary school, our parents decided to have a wi-fi connection inside our house and the main purpose is for our academics. Back then, we almost always just used wi-fi to play online games, Facebook, and other stuff. But as time went by, me and my siblings were starting to have different interests and having an internet within our house is a huge help to gain accessible information. Thanks to other people who give free pdfs, videos, etc. that are very helpful and educational!
Those are the 20 thing's I'm grateful for in my 20 years on Earth!
How about you, what are you grateful for today? Share it on the comment box.
As always, thank you for reading! π
Especial thanks to @LykeLyca renewing the sponsorship last week. The support of my sponsors really push me to keep on writing and progressing as a writer in this platform. Thanks everyone!
Anyways, I am also sorry for being inactive here recently. I still don't have a laptop with me huhu. Also, I've been doing other personal things and I've been more active in noise.cash recently.
Follow me in noise.cash cause I am noisy over there: CrazyRichFilipina. π€£
Previous Articles:
Get to know me more on my noise.cash:Β CrazyRichFilipina
Date Published: August 10, 2021
Sana all nag iinvest na at a young age, heheh! Ako nmn inactive na sa noise, hirap ako dun mka income..