Your Typical Life Insights Post

Let's be real, how many of us have been reading and sharing all of these articles that provide some pretty powerful and equally "no duh" insights into our lives? Many of these articles and viral blog posts are written by twenty-somethings, because I suppose 30-somethings+ aren't into writing blogs and articles about "looking back" or "giving advice to yourself 5 or 10 years ago". Although reading parent forums and posts get pretty comical & make me never want a child. I also hope no one is 40 yrs old and writing a post about how lonely they are and looking back at their life. That would just be depressing.

So I called this post something bland, it won't stick out, and yet, could trigger some readership. Why? Everyone loves a relatable post. Don't lie, you do. In your head, while reading that "thoughts of a 20-something" post, you are all like "heyyy, that happens to me! Yea, yea, totally agree. Ugh, why is this writer talking about my life. Seriously." But really. I know, been there. Now I will attempt to evoke those same thoughts with this post.

Here is my list of 23 things I have insights about in my 23 years plus 8 days of living...

1) Love yourself. You cannot love anything else until you love yourself.
2) CHOOSE happiness. Yes, it is a choice. No one can make that choice for you. I cannot imagine I used to be a miserable teenager that hated life & just everything during my whole "punk-goth" phase. I feel like I wasted a period of time in my life choosing unhappiness. 
3) Appreciate your parents. Acknowledge their love and guidance and most importantly, their support. I am truly biased towards my family. Family is everything. I wouldn't be anywhere near my dreams without them & they truly want what's best.
4) Prioritize your priorities. Need I say more?
5) Lose the sense of entitlement. You are absolutely entitled to nothing, nada, 0. 
6) Be willing to apologize even if you know you did nothing wrong. It just proves that you are willing to stand down in order to keep a relationship. [and by relationship I mean a friendship, closeness with a family member, a significant other, etc.]
7) College is the best four years of your life. Savor every drunk, hungover, tired, hungry, poor, busy, happy moment. #yolo right?
8) Lose the jealousy. It doesn't help & it doesn't motivate. If you want something make it a goal that you will get it, but don't get jealous because someone else has it.
9) Be Spontaneous. Or as spontaneous as your bank account allows you to be.
10) Save money.
11) Don't think because you finished school, you can't still learn. Keep an open mind and keep learning. Why not pick up a new hobby? Read a random college textbook?
12) Indulge. Once in a while, you'll need it.
13) Don't nit pick. You honestly limit yourself when you are too focused on alllll of the little things that irk you. 
14) Travel.
15) Experiment. This goes for anything. Wanna get something pierced, do itttt. Wanna know what happens if you mix redbull & tequila all night, do itttt. I mean, it could turn out badly, but you also wouldn't know and it could turn out fantastically unless you try!
16) Have no regr@ts. But really, try to have as little regrets in life as possible. It significantly helps to make you happier and you learn from mistakes. Cliche, I know.
17) Keep in touch. The networking and connections you make in life will definitely help you get to where you want to be. I have absolutely no doubt about this insight.
18) Fall in and out of love. This is so you know what it feels like to be obsessively in love with someone and then having your heart ripped out and stepped on. You grow and learn from experiences like these. Everyone should understand these two emotions. Also, it's so you know not to hurt someone the way that someone has hurt you. It suxxx.
19) Have a credit card. I don't care what you do with it. Have one. It teaches you things..like debt and monthly payments.
20) Be Inspired and Inspire Others. A day without inspiration is a day wasted in my opinion.
21) Rule #1: Never get sloppy.
22) Be Thankful!!!! Whether or not you believe in a God or higher being just thank life once in a while. It forces you to notice the good things in life.
23) Have a life motto: (mines changed a few times, and it should!)
- everything happens for a reason. ;) 

Peace, love, and happiness. 

Work hard, play harder

As I begin this journey into the post-grad life, I realize more and more how thankful I am to have a full-time job where I make just enough to pay my own bills and still keep some dough on the side for my entertainment, particularly for weekend brunch & shopping. Yes, I am working those 40 hours a week plus I have two part time gigs on weekends, but that only reinforces the fact that when I can work this hard, I can play harder when I decide it's time to let loose. I've still got a phenomenal work-life balance & still have this fantastic feeling inside of me. I'm excited to go to work because it means I worked hard to get to this next level in life. 

A lot of people want it easy, but that's no fun. When I dropped $100 on a pair of jeans 2 weeks ago, did I feel guilty? Not at all. I felt proud because it was all my money. Not from Ma & Dad and out of their weekly budget for me. Have I worn those jeans yet? Not even close. Still folded in the pretty little bag they were wrapped in. 

Happy Thursday!!

Inspired

Be inspired. But most importantly, inspire others. Give your life a meaning. Don't be selfish, it's not all about you. It could be worse. There are people that can't help others. They are too consumed with themselves. 

I'm not saying don't give a dollar, or donate your clothes, but if you feel like you should be rewarded because you did, then that doesn't count. If you inspire someone to do something, to change, to think differently, then you didn't intentionally mean to. Inspiration comes up in the most unlikely places at the most unexpected times. 

When you just gotta lay back & breath it out

After feeling stressed, it's nice to have the few luxuries of spending time with the people that mean the most to you, relaxing outdoors, and some free time to breath in the fresh air and blow it out with all the insecurities of the recent times. It's hard not getting into a rut where you lose motivation & feel unsatisfied with recent events, but the key is to breathe through it. You're still living and gotta do what ya gotta do. I can't stress enough that each experience is a learning one. (Although, I feel like my hangovers never seem to get any less tougher to get over.) There's a reason for everything!! I truly believe it.

Personally, I'm so lucky to have so much and to have the greatest people surround me. They're my motivators & supporters. So when I'm feeling down, I know they're there to help. So my quotes of motivation are "with no expectations, there are no disappointments" and the following picture...

Enjoy the rest of the weekend! 

Peace, love, & happiness

Into the summer

So going into summer break you usually have a list of to-do's, and for me, I didn't realize post-grad meant there are no more "summer breaks" - horrifying realization, really. Well, I'm only 3 weeks out and my motivation is losing steam, but I do hope by sharing mine with you, you will go out and write yours down to try and accomplish it. Nothing feels better than crossing an item off of a list. This is mine, yet I am fearful I will not be able to accomplish all of it by the time the fall comes around and kills all of my motivation. Yours may or may not be similar to this, or it may just inspire you: 

➡ Read all the books you've been piling up to read in your spare time 

➡ Get a summer income (aka get a job, forreal though) 

➡ Watch all the movies and TV shows you've been meaning to get into to

➡ Read the news, educate yourself especially about a topic you really don't understand 

➡ Workout, work hard for that summer bod

➡ Get a nice tan and hopefully it'll last until October 

And most importantly,

➡ Travel! Go where you want, when you can. 

Although I may have finished my academia part of life for now, it doesn't mean I want to stop learning. I want to continue to educate myself with topics of interest and really honing my skills. Perfect example? Writing this blog. Social media is absolutely nothing with a little sharing, a lot of engagement, and a dash of self-taught basics about what people want to read. Go out and pick up a new hobby, apply to a million jobs, lose those pesky 5 pounds, or simply go outside and enjoy the warmer weather & sunshine by yourself or with your friends. The simple things in life can really do a lot for those unhappy days. [I need to keep convincing myself of my own advice when I'm really feeling down]

Peace, love, & happiness

People on an Airplane

This is a post dedicated to the annoying people on an airplane. Also known as your ideal flight from hell. 

A.

1. You're old

2. You're old and grumpy

3. You're old, grumpy, AND take up 2 seats.

B.

1. You're foreign (*cough*EU) and don't know the social norms. (My family are all foreigners, but we know how to fly without being the most annoying people on a flight.) You'd think that flying across an ocean taught you how to act on an airplane.

2. Speaking across aisles and seats in another language because you were too incompetent to book seats together. 

3. Constantly asking people to move because you couldn't book seats next to each other. 

C. 

1. You're a child under the age of 12. 

2. You're a gross little being touching every hole on your head & touching things. 

3. You're a youngin, gross, AND loud.  

Ladies and gentleman, we are now ready for take off. 

Best wishes, 

E

{written on a flight from CLT ✈ MIA at 32,000 feet}

Post-grad

So now that the last few weeks of finishing up projects, term papers, finals and family visits are over, I am not quite sure what to do with my life. Graduation was my first step into the "time-to-grow-up-and-find-a-job" stage of my life and that is exactly what I've been up to. In all honesty, it's scary. I still don't know where I'm going here. I know I'm not the only one, and I've been taking the advice I've been given along with lessons I've picked up.
After a semester of straight A's, 12 hours of an internship and another 12 at my part-time job, I felt pretty successful. I felt like I'm good, I'll be set, "this won't be too hard." Now, I laugh to myself. This is hard, and what do I do now? Hope my chances are still in my favor...just as I they were in my college career and professional experiences so far.
What I've learned? Good luck. Make your personality be the hook, line, and sinker. That resume? Try networking. Resume's are just to make it official. People make it happen. 👇YOU👇 make it happen. Not a piece of paper, even if it is a resume, cover letter, degree, certificate, or whatever.
To the 2013 graduates, you got this. Oh, and karma will treat you well if you treat your supporters well. Don't forget to say thank you to your financial backers (mom & dad!), academic supporters (advisor, mentors, professors), & to your friends who definitely kept you sane while in the process of getting that degree. (I'd like to give a mini-shout out to the alcohol that gave me a false sense of awesomeness past the wee hours where only terrible things may happen - I've got lively stories to tell for the rest of my life).

Congrats, y'all! 🎓🎒🎈