21 Things I Wish I Knew As 25-Year-Old Woman

1. Don’t wait on pursing your dreams. Life is too short and you’ll never regret trying.

2. Don’t make excuses… it’s ALWAYS on you.

3. Start saving for retirement now. Save as much as you can, because the only reason to get a job is so some day, you can quite that job and live a long happy retirement.

4. Always do things with high character- your only regrets will be when you don’t.

5. Set some goals to be accomplished by a certain age and work to do so. And, continue setting goals.

6. Remember the phrase, “This too shall pass.” Hard times will always come along but they will always go too.

7. Never be afraid to fail.

8. Material things are not as cool as I thought and sometimes way too much of a pain.

9. Have high expectations of yourself but in a way that makes you better. Keep learning, be curious, and ask questions.

10. Only worry about things you can control. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t try to take control and change things.

11. Cherish times with your parents – they won’t be around forever.

12. Your college major doesn’t matter in the real world. Take opportunities and gain experience- it’s really the best way to find the right career. Don’t stop taking risks and finding your true happiness.

13. Don’t be trite. Have original thoughts.

14. Plan for the future without losing the present. Time passes awfully quickly.

15. Decide what your values and beliefs are and stand up for them.

16. Older people aren’t always necessarily wiser; they don’t live in the time you grew up in.

17. Forgive but never forget.

18. It’s okay to not have it all figured out. Don’t spend your years worrying- spend years living.

19. Life doesn’t have to be every man for himself. Your family and friends are here to support you and keep you from floundering through life.

20. Take a minute and breathe. Life is already too fast, no need to speed it up.

21. You are still very young, these are nowhere near the best years of your life – it gets better.

Being 25 — it’s an age of uncertainty. You are no longer the young, fun-loving, early 20s, party all night, rock star you once were. Yet, you aren’t quite up to the “I’m for sure an adult” age of 30. You are exactly in-between. You are a mid-20 kind of adult, who spends most days pretending to be an adult but not actually spending much time being a real adult. You still want to have fun, but you can’t stomach the idea of nights upon nights of raging, drinks and other mind-altering fun. You want to be mature, have a good job and feel comfortable with the direction of your future yet part of you is still left pondering what you are doing here.

When I turned 25 earlier this month, I was freaked out. I’m not as adult as I hoped I would be by 25. But, I’m not young enough to have an excuse to be a complete hot mess either. Rather, I’m just here, casually living day-by-day, following my heart a little more than my head and trying to figure out this thing called life.

I’m having my fun, working hard and living a life that makes me happy. Still, I crave knowledge. Not the go to school and learn kind- the kind that you gain only through years of life. For my birthday, I asked friends and family to send a piece of advice that they wish they had received when they turned 25. The results I received made me laugh and cry. They made me want to be better, do better and live better.