10 Things I've learned in the last year

Here is a list of 10 things I have learned from the last year. Oftentimes, thinking about your life and sorting out what you've learned is just as important as tackling new adventures.

(1) Happiness is a choice, not a dependency.

(2) Your feelings/reaction towards others are oftentimes a reflection of how you feel about yourself (Thank you, Daniel, for teaching me this xoxo).

(3) We think approximately 50,000 - 60,000 thoughts daily. Controlling and changing them are entirely up to you. Think positively!

(4) People can and do change. Nothing is ever constant, and this applies to humans too. Sometimes that change is for the better, and sometimes for the worse.

(5) Honesty is tough, but in the end it is the far kinder alternative.

(6) It's all about fear in our lives: fear of rejection, fear of commitment, fear of getting caught, fear of making a mistake. But making mistakes beats the hell out of never trying.

(7) You cannot make someone love you, no matter how much you want or wish them to. This does not mean that you aren't loved by others.

(8) Where I am does not determine where I am going.

(9) Your health is your life. Take it from someone who's been ill for the past year!

(10) Take lots of pictures, no matter if you didn't look quite as picturesque as you'd like. Someday you’ll be really glad you did.

The Audacity of Stupidity

People do really stupid things sometimes. It's a fact of life and more often than we care to admit. The worse part is that you never know when these moments of verbal and physical "diarrhea" will sneak up on you. After the devilish deed is done, you wish the ground would open and swallow you whole as facing the embarrassment is worse than going to hell and meeting Satan himself. This has led me to my theory that we're similar to elephants in this regard. People like elephants never forget, especially stupid and embarrassing acts of others. They'll forget your telephone number, your birthday and even your name, but they'll never forget that day you made a disconcerted spectacle of yourself. Pity hindsight happens more often than foresight.

I've had my share of idiotic moments. Such as hitching a ride home from a high school party with a guy I had a crush on and then blurting out in my drunken stupor that I'm a virgin. He was saying WTF too (and no he didn't get lucky). Or visiting someone who proclaimed to have psychic powers to tell me if my then-ex was going to return to me, and wasting hard-earned cash (the fake ones cannot predict the future, so they might as well make you feel good). Or falling in love with someone who deceived you several times while convincing you it was your entire fault.

These acts committed in ever-reoccurring stupidity may be there to teach you something about yourself and others. It may teach you to be aware of your limits while aiming for the sky, the importance of spending wisely, and to honour and trust yourself. It is said that you can never hide from regret or remorse. I would like to believe that a lesson learned should never be something to regret despite the circumstances under which you have learnt it.