10 lessons of 2010

10. College doesn't accept your High School games.
In High School you can get away with things like procrastination and waiting until the last minute to do things, in college, you are just going to kill yourself and waste a bunch of money.

9. Coupons and membership cards are your best friends while shopping.
When I got stressed out in college I found that shopping was the least destructive and fastest way to recover from the stress no matter how bad it was. But that costs a lot of money. I can't express how much money I saved myself by getting a discount card or looking for Coupons and special deals before going out and shopping.


8. Always follow what you believe in even if nobody will listen.
At least you can say you tried with no regrets on what you could have done differently by trying in the first place. You will walk away knowing you're not just a talker but you make things happen and it made a small difference to someone for them to know you fought for them.


7. The trails that brought you somewhere make you stronger so you can always make it through.
I would not be the person I am now without the hardships I have faced to bring me here in the first place. that mindset reminds me that giving up now will make that pain worth nothing when I could turn that pain into the ticket I need to succeed. Not saying use it as an excuse on why you should get what you want but as a reason why you deserve it and what you want isn't so hard to get to anymore.

6. Just because things don't work out exactly how you want them to doesn't mean hope is lost.
Sometimes you gotta look into another direction and look at things from another view. Life is like a prism: You look through another side and you see it with a new view. Sometimes you need to do this in order to really make the best of your life situations.

5. Take risks.
You never know how that risk could change your life. If you go on with life fearing rejection then the only thing there is to gain is  fear and that will only hold you back more. apply for that job you didn't think you'd ever get, ask out the cutest guy, go to that party. have you ever seen the movie Yes Man? Watch it then live it. You need to experience those things you're always saying no to in order to know what it's like to really love and live.


4. Going alone for something you love will never leave you alone.
Don't follow what everyone else does just because you feel like it's the safer game to play. I must say you have to refer to number 5 on this one but even moreso You can't really discover who you are with everyone in your way. Sometimes you have to go at it alone.


3. Jehovah Jireh
God will always provide for what you really need in your life and won't ever let you down.

2. The ones in your life you can always trust are the ones that have never left you in the first place.
I've been friends with my best friend since I was nine years old and even though there have been rough patches in my friendship with her, as soon as I've needed her back she's been right there waiting without bringing up my past mistakes to throw into my face no matter how badly I'd treated our friendship in the past. Now she's the first person I go to when I don't know what to do and I do my best to be able to do the same in return for her as well.

1. Love doesn't always mean forever.
Sometimes you need to love someone so they can hold onto your heart and then smash it to bits. the cracks in your heart are there to let a new light shine through. You can't know love until you've felt heartbreak but in order for the heartbreak to occur you must allow yourself to love someone for just a little bit of time and allow yourself to become vulnerable and breakable.

2010 was one of the best years of my life. I'm excited for what 2011 brings me.

XOXO
Riah