5 Things I've Learnt In The Past 5 Years

Going back 5 years ago, I was 17 going on 18. I would have been in my last year at college, and after that, would be starting at my first proper job. In my late teens, I was always shy and I didn't have much confidence, it was also a time where I had a bit of a rough patch, but looking back on it, I can see how it's made me who I am today.

Most of my readers seem to be around the same age as me, so i'm sure some of you will relate to this too, but I wanted to talk about a few things I've learnt over the past 5 years, as I can truly say I have changed A LOT since then. Although it was quite a dark time in my life, it also helped me overcome so much and get me to where I am today, and it is a time in my life that I still think about and reflect on. Let me know anything you've learnt over the last 5 years in the comments, as I am always interested in what you all have gone through and any advice you may have!

I am worthy of love.

So, i'll be completely honest with you, I met Joe when I was 21 and before then I had never had a relationship. This was something I used to dwell on all the time, I remember countless times where I would say that I'll probably never find anyone and end up alone with 20 cats, partly joking on the cat part (although I already have 1, so who knows...). Anyway, I genuinely felt as if no one would love me, and that if I ever met anyone they would judge me because I had never been in a relationship. I can honestly say this was not worth the worry, and if you are feeling like this, please know it's ok to be alone and your time will come. Joe obviously never cared about the fact that I had always been single (most people won't care, and if they do, then they aren't right for you!), and you shouldn't care either. If I could go back to my 18 year old self and tell her to stop worrying about boys and start focusing on the important things, trust me, I would.

Always, always, always do what you love.

This is something I live by now and always encourage others to do. You may have seen me touch on this in my last post where I speak about finding happiness in new beginnings. When I was younger I had no idea what I wanted to do, I studied things at college that didn't really have much relevance and I always doubted myself. If you had told me that I would be a blogger/writer when I got older, I would have laughed in your face. As I grew up, I realised that life is too short to not do what you love. If you can't enjoy things, what's the point of doing them? I started to learn that if you enjoy it and you love it, nothing else matters, it's your life and you have every right to do what you want...which leads us to my next life lesson...

People are not judging you as much as you think.

I constantly worried about what others thought of me, would people laugh at me if I did this, would people think I was stupid if i said that? If you are in your twenties now like me, you start to learn that everyone is so wrapped up in their own world that they couldn't really care less about what you are doing. People have their own crap going on in their life, and if someone does judge you for something, you have the power to walk away from them. Being able to get over this fear of what others think, and doing what you love, will honestly change your life, I just wish I did this sooner!

It's OK to walk away from negative people in your life.

This was hard, and took me a while to realise. Towards the end of college, I lost a lot of friends, but it was my own choice. If you are surrounding yourself with toxic or negative people, it will have an effect on you, even if you can't see it yet. Walking away from these types of people and having a positive supportive group of friends can be life changing. Once again, 17 year old me was too scared, but as you grow you understand the damage toxic people can create and you do something about it.

You'll never be ready to be an adult.

I think everyone in their twenties says this, but it's true. I don't even know if I am an 'adult'. I think things just start to happen where you think to yourself 'Yep, I just did an adult thing'. When I was younger I hated the thought of growing up, paying bills (still hate this one!), making doctors appointments, or, you know, working; but it happens and you get over it. Life throws obstacles in your way, you won't see it coming and you won't be ready but I promise you'll get through it. Teenage me just needed to chill out a bit and focus on the present, but hey, I'm making up for that now so it's OK.

Thanks for reading and have a fab weekend. Oh, by the way, I have a newsletter now! Yep, you can get my ramblings sent straight to your email! Jokes aside, it will include my blog updates and latest post, my favourite posts of the week from other bloggers and more exciting stuff! If you want to sign up, please click here, I would love to have you as a subscriber! :) 

Jessica

Just for you guys, here is 19 year old me with bright red hair, kinda contemplating going back to it, we'll see.