25 things I learnt before I turn 26

Radhika Sri Paravastu
Nov 2 · 2 min read

Photo by Ales Me on Unsplash

10 years ago, the 16 year-old me was obsessed with black pumps.I spent days watching re-runs of the film “Sex and the City” where beautiful women wore those perfectly sized,pointed shoes and worked their way up in the world.In my mind’s eye,I somehow saw those women as being over 25 and taking the world in their stride-confidently and elegantly.I decided that the perfect pair of black pumps was all I ever needeed to make my mark in the world but much to my annoyance,my mother blatantly refused to get me the shoes-”It makes your posture weak” she said.From then on I reimagined my world,a world where I would grow up to be a cofident 25 year old weaving her own fairytale.

As I now wait for the clock to turn 12 ,to remind me that I am growing older and entering into the 26th year of my life,I think to myself if I ever did fulfill tha fantasy of the 16 year old me?I did live in New York city,I did go through so many ups and downs and I am yet to find the perfect pair of black pumps but most importantly,I learnt so much growing from a naive 16 year old who dreamt of making it big to a much more mature woman with almost the same dreams as my 16 year-old self.This transition happened because of these 25 things I learned:

  1. Never settle-Be a job,relationship or a body you dont like.
  2. Expect less-from your family,friends and the world
  3. Be more grateful
  4. Hydrate-esstential for your inner and outer happiness
  5. Let go-of fear, anger,hatred and that last slice of pizza
  6. Don’t let others timelines define you-Be it your first job, marriage,grad school or a child.
  7. Embrace change-the grey hair,the excess weight and your friends drifting apart.
  8. Talk less,listen more
  9. Exercise-your mind,body and soul
  10. You are what you eat,eat healthy
  11. Breathe-deep breath in,deeper breath out
  12. Be more loving to your parents
  13. Make fewer friends and many acquaintances
  14. Forgive but never forget the lesson that the hurt taught you
  15. Think with your mind and heart
  16. Less social media
  17. Learn to cook-makes a lesser dent on your wallet and a bigger impact on your health
  18. Stress less
  19. Share your happiness
  20. Don’t be jealous-your time to shine will come too
  21. Take a break-to rejuvinate and heal
  22. Look the best you can
  23. Buy lesser stuff-to make space for the more important things in life
  24. Choose wisely-be it your job,your blend of coffee or your friends
  25. Smile

I am not even close to being the perfect example of a person but I’m getting there.I took it by learning 25 steps ,have you taken your first?

Radhika Sri Paravastu

Written by

Jack of many trades, Master of the ones I love the most.Millenial.Altruist.

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