25 Things for 25 Years

Hello, and Happy New Year! I've spent the past few weeks resting and spending time celebrating the holidays at home with my family. I wanted to take the first post of 2024 to write about 25 things I have learned in my 25 years of life (in no particular order).

1. Celebrate wholeheartedly. When you celebrate your friends’ wins and your own successes, comparison goes away, and life gets a whole lot more fun.  

2. The best conversations happen over a glass of wine.

3. Do something just for fun for 30 minutes a day. Something wholly unproductive. Paint. Play soccer. Learn how to make balloon animals. Dance. Sing. Go on a leisurely bike ride. Bake a cake. Whether it’s a new hobby you want to pick up, or something you enjoyed as a kid.

4. Be quick to listen and slow to speak.

5. Seasons come right when you need them to. Winter might feel dreadfully long, but it makes Spring feel so much sweeter. Enjoy the season you’re in, because you’ll miss parts of it in the seasons to come.

6. JOY is an acronym and comes from putting your focus on Jesus, Others, then Yourself.

7. Nothing is quite as therapeutic as a night walk.

8. Sunrises and sunsets are a gift. Their sole purpose is our enjoyment. There’s really no reason for them to be as beautiful as they are, other than to produce a sense of awe in us.

9. Just Dance.

10. Mornings set the trajectory of your day. If you start your day with a run, you will feel energized and productive. If you start it meditating or praying or reading scripture, you will feel more at peace. If you start it on your phone, you will probably feel a bit stressed. Even five minutes to yourself in the morning can change the course of your day.

11. It’s good to have three impressive recipes up your sleeve.

12. Laugh out loud when you think something is funny.

13. Sabbath. Having one scheduled day of rest, fun, and nothing on my to do list is the highlight of my week, every week. When you know you have a day to recoup, to rest, and to do what you want to do, you work harder throughout the week. On the seventh day, God rested. So should we!

14. When in doubt, flip a coin. You'll probably know what you want when it's in the air.

15. Be a host. It’s fun to plan elaborate events, but it’s also fun to spontaneously have friends over to your messy home to eat leftovers.

16. Be hosted. Allow yourself to be blessed by people.

17. Just say “yes”! My favorite piece of advice in school was to say “yes” to any job or opportunity thrown my way. I’m thankful for the doors that have opened in my life because of it.

18. Talk to strangers.

19. You can choose your hard. It’s hard to run. It’s hard to sit on the couch and feel lazy. It’s hard to quit your job. It’s hard to stay at a job you hate. It’s hard to move abroad. It’s hard to plant deep roots where you are. You get to decide which hard things to lean into.

20. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. He gives immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

21. Write thank you notes.

22. Be all in. Laugh hard. Play hard. Sleep hard. Love hard. There’s nothing more unfulfilling than doing things half-assed.

23. Invite people to do boring things with you. Invite yourself to do boring things with other people. Some of my favorite days have been days of spontaneously running errands with friends.

24. Trust your gut.

25. Make it an event. When you are watching a movie: put on pajamas, turn off your phone, lay out the snacks, and snuggle in. When you are making dinner for yourself: set the table, bring out the fancy dishes, put your water in a wineglass just for fun. When you are reading a book: light a candle, turn on some instrumental music, and pour a cup of tea.

I’m still working on these things, and have so much more to learn, but I am thankful for the experiences and people who have taught me these lessons. Cheers!