A friend posted this article on Facebook called "21 Secrets for your 20's" and I had to share. I figure that most of my readers are in their 20's, so we can probably all identify with some (or maybe most) of these! Keep reading below to see how many of these secrets you can identify with. My commentary is in orange. :)
1. Never looking at your budget and never making a budget is the exact same thing.
I like to think I know my budget by heart (but that doesn't explain how I manage to blow it more frequently than I'd like).
2. The possibility for greatness and embarrassment both exist in the same space. If you’re not willing to be embarrassed, you’re probably not willing to be great.
3. Feel no shame in seeking help from a counselor or therapist. We all have crap we try to wrap and hide under the Christmas tree. Get rid of it before it smells up your entire holiday.
I'll be the first to admit how helpful seeing a counselor can be. It's always helped me tons to talk with a neutral party who can help you figure out how you're feeling, why you're feeling it, and how to move forward.
4. All job listings on Craigslist lead you to a warehouse in downtown LA “wearing something nice with shoes you can walk in”.
5. Don’t ever, ever check Facebook when you’re:
6. All those amazing college friends you swore you’d never lose contact with after college yeah, well, you might lose contact. Moving all over the country, getting married, having kids, all make that forty-five minute conversation with your sophomore roommate a little more complicated than it used to be over a game of Mario Kart. Making and keeping friends in our twenties takes intentionality.
I love that last line about intentionality, and it is so true! It's so much harder to keep up with people when they don't live down the hall from you in the dorm, or when you don't see them in class everyday. Since college, I will admit that I have let some friendships slip away, but I've gained just as many.
7. Your twenties will produce more failures than you’ll choose to remember. The key is when you fail, don’t begin calling yourself a failure.
When you verbalize things, the more true they will become. Don't call yourself a failure, because you and those around you may just start to believe it.
8. Every break up has two break ups. I’m no physicist, but this is a law of physics, of this I am certain. Yes you’ll have the first tearful “It’s over” sitting in the front seat of your Honda or on a park swing. Then 1-2 months later after there’s “been talk”, you’ll have the “real breakup” because she forgets to call like she used to or he checks out the waitress like he’s a judge for Miss USA. And gird those loins because in the second break up there will be a lot more breaking.
Sadly I can identify with this one. I wonder a lot about why commitment seems so hard these days, especially because most of us crave it so deeply. I know I do.
9. The Freshman-Fifteen is nothing compared to the Cubicle-Cincuenta. Don’t sit at your computer perched like a Roman gargoyle. Don’t let office birthday cake be forced on you like a cigarette behind your middle school. Bust out before your butt does.
Hahaha so true! I don't own a scale, so I once went months without weighing myself. Let's just say I was more than a little surprised at the number I saw when I finally stepped on a scale again!
10. And yes, cubicles don’t make sense to anybody other than upper-management. I would be willing to bet that only 3% of all “Cubicle Americans” actually have a positive outlook on life. And half of that 3% is stealing from their company.
I actually don't mind my cubicle at all. I think it has something to do with the fact that I can turn around and look out the window, so it doesn't feel too enclosed.
11. If at some point between 22 – 27 you feel like you’re six years old again, lost and alone at the San Diego Zoo (it’s a big-frickin-zoo), frantically searching for a familiar face – hold tight, you’re experiencing a bit of a Quarter-Life Crisis. Stay put. Pray a lot. And in no time someone will call your name across the loud speaker to tell you where you can be found.
It is really interesting how many moments I've had where I've felt like this. So many times I ask myself, "What is my life?!?" But I ask that in a sarcastic way. It's okay to still be a little crazy and reckless, even after you get into the "real world," as long as you know your limits are make responsible decisions (most of the time).
12. Reckless drinking and reckless flirting have a direct correlation. Friends don’t let friends drive, or flirt, drunk.
13. If you grew up going to church, at some point in your 20′s you’ll probably stop going to church. If you grew up with faith as a central part of your life, at some point in your twenties faith might move to the outskirts of town next to the trailer park and three-legged squirrel refuge. Your twenties are a process of making faith your own apart from your parents and childhood. Sometimes that means staggering away so you know what you’re coming back to.
Haven't experienced this one, and I don't find it likely that I will. I am very blessed to attend a church that I enjoy very much. In fact, almost all of my friends are ones I have met at church.
14. Don’t ever begin dating someone you first met whilst in swimsuits. Doubly-don’t if you’re both in swimsuits whilst holding an alcoholic beverage.
The first sentence of this one is so true for me that it kind of makes me crack up every time I read it.
15. Obsessive Comparison Disorder is the smallpox of our generation. 9 out of 10 doctor’s agree this disorder is the leading cause to eating a whole sleeve of Oreo’s while watching Real Housewives of OC. Say no to obsessive comparison disorder before it starts. Remember everyone’s too busy putting a PR spin on their Facebook profile to care much about yours.
This one is so 100% true! Its so easy to fall into the trap where you compare yourself to everyone around you. You have to keep your perspective positive and remember what you have to be thankful for, not what you wish you had.
16. Life will never feel like it’s “supposed to”. Being twentysomething can feel like death by unmet expectations. However, let me be so brash to say that you are right now, at this moment, exactly where you need to be. But you’ll only be able to see that five years and thirty-eight days from today.
I only hope I look back on my 20's and realize that I was exactly where I needed to be. I'm not always quite sure that I am.
17. You might have your first kid and realize what it’s like to be young, a parent, and have no freaking clue what you’re doing. And for the first time in your life, you also might actually understand your parents for the first time.
18. Marriage WILL NOT fix any of your problems. No, instead marriage will put a magnifying glass on how many problems you really have. We grow up carrying bags with our insecurities, fears, bad relationships, problems with our parents — you name it. Begin to ditch these bags now. Newly married and living in a small apartment is no place to store a luggage set full of shiz.
Whenever I start to idealize marriage in my head, or when I feel like it is the only thing in life I have left to look forward to, I try to keep this in mind. Marriage will come with a whole slew of new problems you never had before, so it's important to cherish your singleness while you have it (though sometimes that is really hard!).
19. An assortment of crappy jobs are a twentysomething rite of passage. Figure out what you need to learn there and learn it. If you don’t, an assortment of crappy jobs might be your thirty, forty and fiftysomething rite of passage as well.
20. Great ideas alone mean nothing. Your ability to persevere through 16 major setbacks, a lack of passion, forgetting why you started this great idea in the first place, and all the people who allude that your great idea is actually quite terrible — well, that means everything.
21. The grass is always greener on the other side, until you get there and realize it’s because of all the manure.
I'd love to hear which of these you can identify with! Let me know in the comments below.
<3 Katie
1. Never looking at your budget and never making a budget is the exact same thing.
I like to think I know my budget by heart (but that doesn't explain how I manage to blow it more frequently than I'd like).
2. The possibility for greatness and embarrassment both exist in the same space. If you’re not willing to be embarrassed, you’re probably not willing to be great.
3. Feel no shame in seeking help from a counselor or therapist. We all have crap we try to wrap and hide under the Christmas tree. Get rid of it before it smells up your entire holiday.
I'll be the first to admit how helpful seeing a counselor can be. It's always helped me tons to talk with a neutral party who can help you figure out how you're feeling, why you're feeling it, and how to move forward.
4. All job listings on Craigslist lead you to a warehouse in downtown LA “wearing something nice with shoes you can walk in”.
5. Don’t ever, ever check Facebook when you’re:
A. Depressed
B. Unemployed.
C. Anytime after 9:17 pm.
D. Struggling with being blessed with singleness while all your friends seem to be blessed with 2.4 kids and that blazing white-picket-fence shining with the glory of Jesus Christ himself.
All of the above. I find letter D to be hilarious, but also incredibly true.6. All those amazing college friends you swore you’d never lose contact with after college yeah, well, you might lose contact. Moving all over the country, getting married, having kids, all make that forty-five minute conversation with your sophomore roommate a little more complicated than it used to be over a game of Mario Kart. Making and keeping friends in our twenties takes intentionality.
I love that last line about intentionality, and it is so true! It's so much harder to keep up with people when they don't live down the hall from you in the dorm, or when you don't see them in class everyday. Since college, I will admit that I have let some friendships slip away, but I've gained just as many.
7. Your twenties will produce more failures than you’ll choose to remember. The key is when you fail, don’t begin calling yourself a failure.
When you verbalize things, the more true they will become. Don't call yourself a failure, because you and those around you may just start to believe it.
8. Every break up has two break ups. I’m no physicist, but this is a law of physics, of this I am certain. Yes you’ll have the first tearful “It’s over” sitting in the front seat of your Honda or on a park swing. Then 1-2 months later after there’s “been talk”, you’ll have the “real breakup” because she forgets to call like she used to or he checks out the waitress like he’s a judge for Miss USA. And gird those loins because in the second break up there will be a lot more breaking.
Sadly I can identify with this one. I wonder a lot about why commitment seems so hard these days, especially because most of us crave it so deeply. I know I do.
9. The Freshman-Fifteen is nothing compared to the Cubicle-Cincuenta. Don’t sit at your computer perched like a Roman gargoyle. Don’t let office birthday cake be forced on you like a cigarette behind your middle school. Bust out before your butt does.
Hahaha so true! I don't own a scale, so I once went months without weighing myself. Let's just say I was more than a little surprised at the number I saw when I finally stepped on a scale again!
10. And yes, cubicles don’t make sense to anybody other than upper-management. I would be willing to bet that only 3% of all “Cubicle Americans” actually have a positive outlook on life. And half of that 3% is stealing from their company.
I actually don't mind my cubicle at all. I think it has something to do with the fact that I can turn around and look out the window, so it doesn't feel too enclosed.
11. If at some point between 22 – 27 you feel like you’re six years old again, lost and alone at the San Diego Zoo (it’s a big-frickin-zoo), frantically searching for a familiar face – hold tight, you’re experiencing a bit of a Quarter-Life Crisis. Stay put. Pray a lot. And in no time someone will call your name across the loud speaker to tell you where you can be found.
It is really interesting how many moments I've had where I've felt like this. So many times I ask myself, "What is my life?!?" But I ask that in a sarcastic way. It's okay to still be a little crazy and reckless, even after you get into the "real world," as long as you know your limits are make responsible decisions (most of the time).
12. Reckless drinking and reckless flirting have a direct correlation. Friends don’t let friends drive, or flirt, drunk.
13. If you grew up going to church, at some point in your 20′s you’ll probably stop going to church. If you grew up with faith as a central part of your life, at some point in your twenties faith might move to the outskirts of town next to the trailer park and three-legged squirrel refuge. Your twenties are a process of making faith your own apart from your parents and childhood. Sometimes that means staggering away so you know what you’re coming back to.
Haven't experienced this one, and I don't find it likely that I will. I am very blessed to attend a church that I enjoy very much. In fact, almost all of my friends are ones I have met at church.
14. Don’t ever begin dating someone you first met whilst in swimsuits. Doubly-don’t if you’re both in swimsuits whilst holding an alcoholic beverage.
The first sentence of this one is so true for me that it kind of makes me crack up every time I read it.
15. Obsessive Comparison Disorder is the smallpox of our generation. 9 out of 10 doctor’s agree this disorder is the leading cause to eating a whole sleeve of Oreo’s while watching Real Housewives of OC. Say no to obsessive comparison disorder before it starts. Remember everyone’s too busy putting a PR spin on their Facebook profile to care much about yours.
This one is so 100% true! Its so easy to fall into the trap where you compare yourself to everyone around you. You have to keep your perspective positive and remember what you have to be thankful for, not what you wish you had.
16. Life will never feel like it’s “supposed to”. Being twentysomething can feel like death by unmet expectations. However, let me be so brash to say that you are right now, at this moment, exactly where you need to be. But you’ll only be able to see that five years and thirty-eight days from today.
I only hope I look back on my 20's and realize that I was exactly where I needed to be. I'm not always quite sure that I am.
17. You might have your first kid and realize what it’s like to be young, a parent, and have no freaking clue what you’re doing. And for the first time in your life, you also might actually understand your parents for the first time.
18. Marriage WILL NOT fix any of your problems. No, instead marriage will put a magnifying glass on how many problems you really have. We grow up carrying bags with our insecurities, fears, bad relationships, problems with our parents — you name it. Begin to ditch these bags now. Newly married and living in a small apartment is no place to store a luggage set full of shiz.
Whenever I start to idealize marriage in my head, or when I feel like it is the only thing in life I have left to look forward to, I try to keep this in mind. Marriage will come with a whole slew of new problems you never had before, so it's important to cherish your singleness while you have it (though sometimes that is really hard!).
19. An assortment of crappy jobs are a twentysomething rite of passage. Figure out what you need to learn there and learn it. If you don’t, an assortment of crappy jobs might be your thirty, forty and fiftysomething rite of passage as well.
20. Great ideas alone mean nothing. Your ability to persevere through 16 major setbacks, a lack of passion, forgetting why you started this great idea in the first place, and all the people who allude that your great idea is actually quite terrible — well, that means everything.
21. The grass is always greener on the other side, until you get there and realize it’s because of all the manure.
I'd love to hear which of these you can identify with! Let me know in the comments below.
My gingham and paisley look from last week is featured on Real Girl Glam today- check it out here!
Congrats to Samra Softic, who is the winner of the That's Mine giveaway!! Amy will be emailing you soon.
<3 Katie
So funny and interesting! :)
ReplyDeleteGemma
http://www.taipeistreetstyle.com
I love this list- so many are true; need to keep 'em in mind!
ReplyDeleteHappy Tuesday!
-Ashley
http://lestylorouge.com
Love this list! Very true! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletexo,
Jacqueline
stylininstlouis.com
Haha, this is amusing but also depressingly true. Thanks for sharing =)
ReplyDeleteCorinne x
www.skinnedcartree.com
This is so true! I am 23 and can definitely relate to these. Thanks for sharing :) xo
ReplyDeleteI totally relate to most of these - thanks for sharing, Katie!
ReplyDeleteSometimes, you just kind of sink into that sleeve-of-Oreos (or in my case, can of Pringles)mood, and it's easy to forget all the good things that ARE happening in your life. For me, the hardest thing is to stop worrying about all the things I think I should be doing, should already have done or am not doing right - it's such a useless train of thought, but it still comes around from time to time.
Will keep this bookmarked!
So true! Its really hard to stay positive but if we don't, its going to be a long road ahead!
DeleteThis is hilarious. I think I can identify with a good handful (ok, more than a handful) of these.
ReplyDelete-April
http://greatlittleplaceblog.blogspot.com/