21x21

    As I hit the little orange button that puts these posts live for everyone to see, I am sitting in a hotel, with one of my best friends, surrounded by a gaggle of gifts she brought from her family, trying to plan out what we are going to do today, in one of the busiest cities in America.
    21 years ago on a very windy 76 degree day in April, my mother gave birth to me. I came into the world surrounded by loved ones and I, thankfully, am still surrounded by loved ones, although they are not just down the halls waiting to meet me for the first time. We are separated by miles and miles of land, some in different cities, some in different states, but none the less, I still feel the love that I felt when I was a baby.

    Seeing as how I now have 21 years of life under my belt (shocking, I know), I wanted to share with y'all 21 pieces of truth that I sometimes wish people would have told me.

1. Find your tribe and love them hard. As I have gotten older, I have realized that the number of people I keep close to me have diminished greatly. But the people who I have in my life right now are the ones I want standing beside me for everything.
2. The bad days will never outweigh the good ones. [Romans 8:18] It may seem like they do, but they really do not. Hold steadfast that every day is a new day. 
3. Dress like royalty. No, not with crowns and hands full of jewelry. You are a princess to a heavenly King, do not dress like the Madam in the town square. Do not worry about name-brand items or how society wants you to show certain parts of your body to everyone.
4. You were not called to "fit in". This was definitely a lesson that knocked me over the head several times in my life. I wanted so badly to fit in with the "cool" crowd that I never realized that being "normal" is not as much fun as everyone thinks. So be weird, and crazy and insane. Belt out Broadway show tunes in your car with your windows rolled down (sorry mom). Learn a new language just because. Go to a museum because you are secretly a history buff (just not in school). Make the "cool" kids want to be you for a turn because you are having the time of your life.
5. "Do not be afraid". Did you know this phrase is written in the Bible 365 times? That is a daily reminder from God to live everyday as fearlessly as the last.

         6. Love All, Judge None. (Fun fact: I actually want to get this tattooed on my body
             somewhere as daily reminder for myself).
         7. Pray. Life is definitely a challenge for everyone. No one has everything figured out. But what
             I have come to learn from everything is that prayer is the best thing to do in every situation.
             Got a good grade? Pray. Car broke down? Pray. Graduated? Pray. 
         8. Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have. I
              cannot stress this enough (along with several other pieces of advice). If you do not love
              yourself, how are you going to show others how love you?
         9. Seize the day! (Excuse me while I just go ahead and bust out in the song from Newsies) As
             cheesy and cliche as that sounds, do not let life past you by. There is a two lines in the song
             from the play "Courage cannot erase our fear/Courage is when we face our fear" and I
             cannot think of better advice to go with it.
         10. Be in love with your life. Okay, this kind of goes with loving yourself, but I felt like this is
​               also it's separate advice.

         11. It is never too late. Want to write a book? Go ahead. Want to go back to college? What's  
                stopping you. There are too many coulda, shoulda, woulda moments in life that a lot of
                people come to regret (guilty!), do not build a collection of those moments. 
         12. Don't be afraid to love. I get that love can be scary. But so can traveling on an airplane by
                yourself. You just got to put on your big girl boots, and lasso that bull... Okay, maybe not
                the best example... 
         13. Let go. When you do fall in love but it is not right for you, know when something is toxic for
                you and let it/them go. I know it might seem hard but sometimes that is the best thing to
                do.
         14. Make playlists. For everything! For jam sessions with your bestie, for road trips, for bad
                days and for good days.
         15. Be fearless in what sets your soul on fire. Do not hold back. Go for that dream job you
​                always wanted. Spend your weekends writing outdoors instead in an office. 

         16. Think before you speak! Anger controls your words. Do not let emotion cloud your
                 judgement because you should not lose a friend over a heated tongue. 
         17. Find the balance. Sometimes you need to put that extra slice of pizza down, but
                sometimes you need the night with your girls. Don't let your life fall into one spectrum.  
         18. Quit looking at the past, focus on the future. Yes your past may define you-it tells the
                world where you came from, but the future is where you are going. The future holds
                endless possibilities.
         19. Always carry cash. (Thanks Kelsey) Plastic is nice but you never know when you will see a
                street performer and actually want to give them a tip. (Or in Kels' sense-force your best
                friend into a picture she was not prepared for)
         20. Do not take life too seriously. Know that to get through life, you need a fair few of laughs.
                Don't be a stick-in-the-mud. 
         21. A bad day can always be made good with a home-cooked meal. As an independent
                college student (and a hardcore foodie) there is nothing better after a long and tiring day
​                than a home cooked meal (whether it is made by you or your stellar roommate. 

April 29th, 2016-21 Years of age.