I turned 32 years old this week.
Instead of sharing the things I learned over the past 32 years, I’ll stick to the things I learned the past year.
Before I dive into it, I’ll share two Little O stories.
“Mom’s birthday”
Her birthday was two weeks before mine. Right after her birthday, we told her that hers was done and mine was coming soon.
She seemed to understand it.
But, a few days leading to my birthday, she would say “Little O’s birthday na.”
And of course, we reminded her: “Little O’s birthday is done na. Mommy naman.” But like a typical toddler, she refused to believe us.
On the morning of my birthday—while Little O was sleeping—D told her “Little O, don’t steal mommy’s thunder.” And yes, we talk to her even when she’s asleep. So, don’t wonder why she’s chatty for a 2-year-old kid.
When she woke up, she moved from lying down position to a kneeling position and said “Mommy’s birthday.”
My mom heart was kilig! Because she remembered and because she already knows the concept of tomorrow.
“Di pa tapos!”
She was on her morning play outside with her BFF. She then sang “Happy birthday” to me. Then her BFF excitedly clapped in the middle of the song.
Little O went to her and said “Di pa tapos!” with her arms stretched backward as if she was Naruto attacking someone.
That scenario happened around four times. The two helpers and I laughed so hard to the point there were almost teardrops coming down from my eyes.
Those are my 32nd birthday memories I want to record in this journal.
Now on to the lessons I learned in the past year.
1. Appreciate the joy of missing out.
It’s been a month since I disconnected from Messenger. I only told four friends I was disconnecting on Messenger. If they needed to contact me, they can do so on Viber or Instagram.
Slowly, my family figured out I wasn’t on Messenger. They found ways to contact me. My parents would text or call me (old school, I know). And my siblings would send me a message on Instagram.
I know it’s inconvenient for most people because Messenger has become the new “SMS”.
Am I being selfish? Nope. I’m just trying to reduce social input. I don’t even know who sent birthday greetings on Messenger. All I know is I’m cool with missing out on things.
2. You gotta do the work every day.
This is common sense, and I know this from reading The Compound Effect since 2017.
Wedding Prep
When I was planning our wedding, I became complacent when we secured the restaurant. And after that, I didn’t do a thing until two months before the wedding. It was crunching time, I regretted not spending at least 30 minutes a day on wedding preps. Despite that though, the wedding turned out great. It may have turned out better if I worked on it every day.
But for the past few months, I’ve been posting every day on LinkedIn to get new clients.
Have I gotten new ones? Nope, zero, nada, zilch.
Am I getting nowhere? NOT REALLY.
Because three recruiters have invited me to apply for their copywriting job posts! That means, it’s working! I just have to tweak what I’m doing to attract my ideal audience.
Pullups
Since I started my 12-week year on May 20ish, I’ve been doing daily assisted pullups. Before June ended, I was able to do one unassisted and imperfect pullup.
Showing up aka consistency is the ingredient that will help you achieve your goal.
3. You create your own destiny.
There’s a story I’d like to share:
There are two brothers who were raised by an alcoholic. The first brother became an alcoholic. The second one turned out well; someone with a decent job.
When they were asked, “Why did you turn out that way?”
They answered the same thing: “Well, what can you expect from growing up with an alcoholic father?”
No matter how your parents raised you, it’s still up to you how you’ll turn out. Their mistakes don’t have to be your mistake.
4. Be humble.
I was never a humble person. There’s an elitista living inside me. But D’s family taught me how to be humble. They made me realize that we’re all the same no matter what we do in life.
5. You need a break… even from your loved ones.
There were days when I just needed space from Little O and D, and there’s nothing to be guilty about. I don’t need to feel bad about it. We all need solitude.
6. Nothing is fair in love and war.
I won’t add the details here, but I’ll write about it on a different post.
Simple lessons that I wish people will do more. Now, I’m off to see what lies in Chapter 32 of my life.
