10 lessons I learned entering my 35th

Happiness is top priority and luckily it is our choice. Life is fairly laid out and pre planned throughout our 20s with tons of major events like college, independence, first kiss, first heartbreak, first job, first marriage (and hopefully last) but 30s are to be figured out!

Freedom comes at a cost. We get to pay the price by figuring out things ourself, making daily life decisions from cooking our meals to taking out the trash, from paying rent and utilities to managing expenses, from balancing work and personal life to staying sane in this crazy fast world.

You got to keep the inner child alive and remember the dreams and aspirations of the younger version and not let it get over-powered from fears and apprehensions accumulated by our more mature older self.

Work is important but not more than our relationships especially with the cofounder in marriage. Work can be switched every couple of years unlike partnership which you want to keep forever (unless you don't) That's a job you need decent appraisals and hopefully promotions every year.

There is no one-fit-for-all definition of success. It's an accumulation of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and financial aspects of life and there is no comparison with anyone else but from our own past self. They say if we put all our problems on the table and look at the problems others have, we will gladly take back ours!

Life can be as overwhelming as we want it to be and blindly following conventional milestones of society just adds to the complexity. The great thing about 30s is we got to make your own path and there are no wrong paths. How can there be any mistakes if we are all living for the first time.

Everything is difficult. Staying in a job that is not making you happy is difficult. Working on your dreams with no certainty but hope is difficult. Giving up and accepting life as our fate is difficult. Staying strong and putting in efforts for what we want everyday is equally difficult. I guess we all got to choose our hard and make it the right decision.

Happiness is a choice and sometimes we choose to not opt for it. Weather it's therepy, art, sports, food, a casual drink or just a good cry, we got to figure out whatever it takes to sail through the curve balls, the difficult situations life throws at us.

All good things come to an end but bad things usually stick around whether it's a toxic person or habit. Unless we take action against them, we silently watch those bad habits take action against us! I have had my own share of bad habits and my birthday resolution is to switch to a healthier lifestyle. 

Finally, growing up and growing old can be a beautiful process provided we figure out what we want in life, we take care of our body and mind, we focus on the good more than the bad. A little gratitude and manifestation goes a long way. Cheers to 34 years of life and 1 full year of iimwalabanda 💪