Yesterday, on the 8th of February, I celebrated my 21st Birthday. I guess there’s always a slight element of sadness on birthday’s, or maybe that’s just me? Maybe it’s because my parents often forgot my birthday or maybe because I’ve spent many of them crying over something pathetic, or maybe it’s because I never receive presents that I really want. I don’t know. My birthdays, even the really epic ones, have just never truly reached my expectations. This one was no different. The highlight of my day was when I got my hair washed and the lady massaged my scalp and it felt like heaven. No, I lie, the real highlight was the moment I got up out of bed and for a brief moment, felt incredibly happy and grateful that I had made it t0 21. Damn, that moment was really great. Otherwise, the rest of my day was pretty mediocre, got a little tipsy from wine, stuffed my face with Woolies doughnuts and cupcakes and had good chats with my sister and a close friend. I also got some really sweet birthday messages via calls, texts and social media – even the bank wished me a happy birthday – that made me smile. The irony; “Happy birthday, you’re getting poorer” haha. Actually, looking back, my birthday wasn’t too bad. I spent it with people that I love while simultaneously doing two things I love ( eating and drinking red wine). I’m really blessed and that is something which I will make my mission to never forget. I’ve learnt a lot of things throughout the years, so let me be very corny and list 21 lessons I’ve learnt in my 21 years of living:

  1. Time truly does heal most wounds – others never truly heal but you learn to just live with the pain.
  2. People will hurt you for no reason because generally human beings are damaged souls – so never blame yourself.
  3. Laughing is one of the best things that anyone can do
  4. You are more than capable of reaching the goals you set for yourself.
  5. The universe owes you nothing.
  6. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people and we’ll never know why.
  7. Love is literally the one and only thing that makes the most and the least sense all at the same time.
  8. Family is everything.
  9. Crying helps.
  10. There will always be someone who is better than you in every way, so you have to know who you are in order to avoid the disappointment.
  11. No matter where you are, somehow at some point, you’ll wish you were somewhere else.
  12. People around you are going through things you would never believe even if they told you. Life is hard for most people – be sensitive.
  13. Achievement does really bring with it an anti-climax.
  14. That one thing you think will make everything okay, won’t.
  15. Balance is a major key.
  16. Pretending that you’re okay when you really aren’t, only hurts you more in the long run.
  17. If you really think about the logistics of life and the universe and how we came about and why the hell we are all here right now, you could drive yourself to a state of deep sadness. So don’t think about it too much.
  18. We are all going to die. It seems pretty obvious but it took me a very long time to actually truly understand that concept.
  19. Everyone is deeply insecure about something.
  20. We all have things we don’t talk about.
  21. There is a void within everyone. Sometimes it’s really small and you hardly notice it and other times it is so big that it feels as though it is consuming you. No matter what, the void will never go away and you’ll go crazy trying to fill it.

This list seems a little sombre, I guess it’s because life is a little sombre, you know?

 

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