I am pretty sure that at 16, I thought I knew all there was to know about life.  At 21, I was sure that I knew so much more than I did at 16.  And, at 30 well…. I felt like I was already old and set in my ways.  This being the last year of my 30’s….. tears…sighs… and sniffles, I must acknowledge that I am still constantly learning more than I knew the day before, and that some of these lessons that I learned in my 30’s I probably should have learned in my 20’s.  Oh well, hindsight being 20/20 and all…  Here are the 10 most important lessons I learned in my 30’s.

1.  You Are Enough.  I spent a good portion of my life wanting to be MORE or LESS.  I can’t say that it is not something that I still battle with daily.  But, there will always be someone better and someone worst than you, in all aspects of life.  If you keep trying to keep up or measure up, you fail to see the amazing things about yourself.

2.  Roll with it.  NO matter how much control you think you have, some things are outside of your control.  Even the most intense Control Freak, has to acknowledge that they don’t wield as much power as they think.  Hence, The Serenity Prayer – “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

3.  Don’t fight your feelings and trust your instincts.  If you feel sad, cry.  If you feel happy, smile.  Embrace what your feeling and don’t try to hide it.  Let it out.  My first impression is almost always the one I should go with.  More often than not, if I don’t trust my instincts. I regret it.

4.  A square block is NOT fitting into a round hole.  Stop FORCING things to be that are not meant to be.

5.  Just cause it feels good or it tastes good, doesn’t make it good.  This one is self explanatory, right??  Calories… and … some pleasure, lol.

6.  All relationships require communication, loyalty, commitment and effort.  All relationships, friendships, parent child, employer employee….

7.  Don’t be afraid to make changes.  “If you don’t like where you are MOVE.  You are not a tree.”

8.  Identify FEAR.  I have let FEAR stop me from doing a lot in my life.  I had excuse after excuse about why I couldn’t or didn’t do XYZ.  I never identified it as FEAR.  But, once I did it helped me to begin to work towards conquering it.  And move on.  FEAR – False Evidence Appearing Real.

9.  No one owes you anything.  Except maybe you… you owe yourself THE VERY BEST.

10.  Gratitude and Attitude will get you EVERYWHERE.

What Lessons are you learning in your 30’s?