Hard pills to swallow

Life comes with many lessons, some of those being extremely difficult to come to terms with. With this difficulty, it can be frustrating to see the whole picture of what the universe may be trying to teach us. It may leave us discouraged, depressed, and angry with the world. In this post, I'm going to highlight some of the tougher life lessons I have learned over the years and hopefully they can bring some clarity in whatever storm you're weathering right now.

"Never take criticism from someone you wouldn't go to for advice" - Melissa Bolton

As humans with an innate need for connection, we care deeply about how others perceive us because we seek their approval. We can't control what people say to us, but we can control how much we let it affect us. With this in mind, if you don't value someone's opinion enough to take their advice, why would you listen to their criticisms? There is a difference between constructive criticism (which we all should be open to in order to grow to our fullest potential) and someone just tearing others down. That difference lies in their intention. At the end of the day, the only person who can truly define you, is you.

You can't give from an empty cup

This is a lesson I reiterate to my loved ones repeatedly. You can't give all of yourself and expect to feel whole. You have to fill yourself up first, take care of yourself, and then give from the overflow. It's such a beautiful description of how life should work that I stumbled upon a few years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.

You will never grow by staying in your comfort zone

One of my favorite YouTube channels, Yes Theory, is centered around this specific mindset of "seeking discomfort" and is one of the major reasons why I refuse to limit myself in life. Majority of the time, these leaps of faith are accompanied by anxiety of what could happen. What saves me, is I refuse to live my whole life asking myself "What If?" Even plants outgrow their pots eventually and need to branch out somewhere they can thrive more. Whether this means physically uprooting yourself for a fresh start, trying new foods, learning to find comfort in independence. The options are endless, and they don't have to be extremely drastic in order to make an impact.

Embrace Failure

This is a concept I am still learning for myself BUT it is an important one. Success is the balance of failure. They do not exist without the other. Being comfortable with failing is the key to success. There are things you'll try and fail at, and maybe it just wasn't meant for you but at least you tried. And then there's things you are scared to try but do and succeed. The main takeaway is you'll never know until you try and if you fail, that's okay.

Some things in life are only for a season

Our life changes as frequently as the seasons themselves. People will come and go, places will come and go, moments pass by just as quickly as they came. The memories we make along the way are truly the only permanent things in life. Living every moment to its fullest and loving people (and yourself!) completely is so important.

True happiness comes from embracing the darkness

I think we spend majority of our lives finding the light in our lives without addressing all of the darkness that exist, too. We are all made up of moments that helped shape us into who we are today; many of these moments being hardships. And then we spend our lives avoiding acknowledging that these hard things happened or dwelling on the fact they did, as if that can change it. All it does is create this world of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. However, by recognizing that these hardships are nothing more than a memory, that they don't have a physical presence anymore; that's when you can begin to know peace.

Life comes with many lessons, these are just a few of the major ones that have brought me healing and inner calm over the past few years. These are definitely easier said than done when it comes to fully understanding and accepting these lessons, but once you do, it can be such a beautiful mindset to live in. I hope that whoever is reading this can find peace for themselves and allow themselves to be truly happy.