A few more days to go and I will be 1 year older. I will turn 21 years old.
As I grew up, I realized that I shouldn't just let time pass by like that. I shouldn't let myself just be older. Because along with being older, I believe that we should also be wiser, and better in all aspects.
I guess this thing wherein I will list the lessons I've learned in my years of existence will be my traditional yearly thing since I want to remind myself that I do really have life learnings. And to also make sure to apply it to myself, not just keep on listing.
In my previous birth month, here's what I listed: 20 Things I Learned Before I Turned 20
Now, here's an addition... more organized this time as I categorized them.
Some of them, I think are controversial so if you're not open-minded enough or not ready for it, it's okay if you won't continue reading this.
21 Lessons I’ve Learned in 21 Years
Health
1. Sleep is so important
It has so many benefits for our bodies. Although I don't have a consistent sleeping schedule, as much as possible, I make sure to make bawi.
2. Sunscreen daily is important
I have been using sunscreen daily even when I'm just at home since I was in senior high school. Based on studies, it prevents skin cancer, premature aging, and so on.
3. Do not wear earphones all the time
As far as I know, using earphones all the time, especially with high volume, can lead to damaging our ears and can also later on develop into loss of hearing. I'm glad that I'm really not into wearing earphones or headphones. I prefer the built-in speaker of my phone and laptop most of the time.
4. Use anti-radiation eyeglasses when using gadgets
5. Uninstalling social media apps is the best decision that I have made for my mental health.
6. Promoting proper sex education should be normalized/mandatory
This can definitely help in preventing teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, and unsafe abortion. This can also help in having safe sex, being informed about a healthy reproductive system, and so on.
7. “If you don’t have time for your health, you will make time for your illness.”
Finance
8. Pay in full cash as much as possible, not installments
Learned this when I bought my laptop which I already mentioned a couple of times. Related articles:
9. Prioritize building emergency fund
The COVID-19 pandemic made me realize that emergency fund is important.
10. Have different money jars/funds
11. "You reap what you sow"
My mother is whom I know in person who is really fond of investments. I guess I get that trait of her because I am so interested in investments as well. The investments that she's started years ago, she, my father, us, her family, are reaping it. She's still continuing up until now. She always thinks of the future that's why she invests.
Life (in general)
12. Quality over quantity
This applies to everything. For examples... You have many articles published, but are those quality contents? You have many friends, but are those trustworthy? You have many skincare products, but do those help your skin to become better? The list goes on. In short, invest in good quality pieces, in good quality people, etc.
13. Having a vision board helps us to get closer to our dreams
It seems to be effective for most people and I find this effective for myself too.
14. Working hard doesn't equate to being successful or to being rich
If that's the case, then farmers and laborers must be the wealthiest right now. Sadly, that's not how our system works.
15. Choose your hard because life will never be easy
Making wealth is hard, being broke is hard. Marriage is hard, divorce is hard. Obesity is hard, staying fit is hard. The list goes on.
16. We all have different timelines
17. Be your own standard first
Some people often have a list of qualities that they want for their partners or future partners. They want them to be faithful, honest, understanding, and so on. If you have that list of qualities, try to reflect on yourself as well. That standard that you set for your partner or your future one, be like that first. Because sometimes, we just keep on looking at other people that we forgot ourselves.
18. We'll keep on making the same mistakes if we don't learn from our history
This applies to everything. For instance, in our course, we have subjects about history. The good things we learned there, we can adapt or improve. Meanwhile, mistakes must be avoided. That's the importance of history. Another example, in a country, people elect corrupt politicians all over and over again. Expect that they will get richer. Meanwhile, the poor will get poorer. That's the consequence of not looking back and learning from their history.
19. Sometimes, heartbreak is not because of a person
I had my first heartbreak recently and it's not because of a person. I've heard from others that their heartbreaks were not caused by a person as well so I think it's normal. Sometimes, it can be a pet, a thing, a situation, etc.
20. Always choose dignity over money
It's sad to hear that some people can exchange their dignity to do dirty work in exchange for money. The best example of this is the trolls or troll farms that are getting paid to spread misinformation, and throw hate and negativity on social media. I have read a confession of a troll on reddit and heard a confession of another troll through a radio. They admitted that they felt guilty but too late because they have already spread misinformation to millions of people. Another example is vote-buying. Unfortunately, others still consider money as a basis on whom they will vote. Nag-bigay kasi si ano, malaki ang bigay ni ano, kaya sila ang iboboto ko. Sad.
21. Why choose between being well-mannered and educated? When you can choose both?
I've been seeing people arguing about this on social media. "It's better to be well-mannered than to be educated" vs "it's better to be educated than well-mannered". For me, being educated and being well-mannered should go hand-in-hand. Well-mannered nga, madali namang mauto sa fake news kasi hindi marunong tumingin ng kung ano ang facts. Educated nga pero ang bastos naman ng ugali. Ang pangit pakinggan ng pareho, diba?
So why should we just choose one when we should just choose both? Embody both of them. Be well-mannered and educated at the same time. That's just my perspective.
Closing Thought
We all have different perspectives and experiences in life. So expect that we all have different learnings as well. I understand if we don't agree on some things. But I already gave a heads-up in the beginning wherein I stated... "Some of them, I think are controversial so if you're not open-minded enough or not ready for it, it's okay if you won't continue reading this."
Those are my 21 learnings in my almost 21 years of existence. I will forever have an open mind to keep on learning stuff. I will never allow myself to be limited because I know that when I stop learning, that's when I also stop growing.
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I write things that spike my interest such as finance, investing, kdrama, kpop, architecture, my learnings, and misadventures.
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Date Published: May 13, 2022
Oh my, you have tons of realization and lessons in life which is good. I just hope that you enjoy your life without regrets at the end. I always teach myself to enjoy every moments whether good or bad because I will only experience that particular time once.