What I have learned my twentieth year: Month Three
I thought it would be neat to share a handful of different things that I learn personally in my own life, as I move through my twentieth year. Your twentieth year is the start of a new chapter in life. You are no longer a teenager, and your adult life is beginning to take off. You cannot go back, you can only move forward. These lessons are lessons I will learn again and again throughout my life in different ways, but I have chosen to share them because they have been the most prevalent in my life recently. I hope my lessons learned are just as helpful, thought provoking, and inspiring for you as they are for me.
I have officially been twenty for three months... I can't believe how fast they flew by. So much has happened in my life since then. I have already grown quite a lot since June 19th, and I can hardly wait to see what continues to unfold before me as my adventure into adulthood proceeds.
1. I must let go of things out of my control in order to grow and move forward.
I have heard this advice growing up more times than I can count, but I have never really understood it. The first three months of my 20th year have been a time where I have had to put it into practice more than any other time in my life thus far. I finally understand it. It has never been harder for me either. Throughout the course of my life I am going to have to let go and say goodbye to people I love most. It will happen every now and then. It will always be extremely difficult, it will always be painful. But doing God's will sometimes means letting go of people we love, or plans we aspire to, or dreams and goals we think are in accord with His plan for us. Instead of trying to control these situations and hanging on to what cannot be, I need to give them up and trust. Hanging on to plans or people who cannot be in my life right now keeps my heart from growing and transforming into who God wishes me to become. Hanging onto the past prevents me from realizing the present, and the future God wishes for me to partake in.
2. There is always a need to grow more in knowledge.
I sometimes become so overwhelmed just thinking of all the different aspects of knowledge I wish to obtain. There is SO much to learn and so little time. *Problems of a multi-interest nerd* As I continue to grow as a person, and experience new things, I am more and more aware of just how much wisdom and knowledge is out there for me to gain. I want to learn as much as I can, and there will always be a need to grow more in my knowledge of different subjects. Each conversation I have with others, and multiple times throughout the day, I am reminded just how much I have left to learn. I don't know everything, and I never will, there will always be something for me to learn and grow from each day of my life.
3. Time is a precious thing, and it will not wait for me.
I swear a minute ago it was 4pm and now it's already 6pm. It seems as though hours are minutes and minutes are seconds. I am in a whirlwind of ideas, projects, hobbies and interests, but time is not waiting for me. It is one thing to plan or daydream about ideas. It is another thing entirely to take action on these ideas and thoughts. Time won't wait for me and my ideas. If time will not wait for me, why am I waiting on myself and others? God wishes for us to discern, pray, and think about things, but when He calls us to action will we be ready to jump on board with zeal? How can we waste the precious time God has given us to complete what He asks of us? Time shouldn't be wasted, it should be used to persevere on our God given path, and complete our personal missions set before us. The past few months in particular, I have learned just how vital it is to not waste time. It is a lot easier said than done, but is something I will always strive to perfect myself on.
4. God and my relationship with Him are my top priority.
It is one thing to believe this, and it is another thing to live this belief out in my life. If God is truly the top priority in my life, why do I catch myself making decisions without praying and asking God about it first? If God is truly the top priority in my life, why do I try harder to make time to grow closer to my friends than I do trying to grow closer to God? Why do I forget so easily to spend time each day with Him? How can I go an entire day only talking to Him once, if even that? The past few months I have learned just how important my relationship with God is. During painful, difficult times, I realized how much I need Him, and how He is the only one who can truly bring me comfort. My relationship with God does not begin after death when I am face to face with Him - He won't recognize me as a friend. It begins now, and I must nurture it by His grace each day for the rest of my life. Again, much easier said than done. Like growing in any relationship, it will take work, effort, discipline, determination, and lots and lots of love.
5. It is vital for me to make time to grow closer to those in my family.
The people in my family are very special because God chose for these particular people to be connected to me in a way that no one else can. Recently I have learned in new ways just how important it is to love them with my whole heart, to learn from them, and to strengthen my relationships with them. I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have to grow closer to them and be there for them. Love begins in the home, if I do not love those in my family as I should, how can I truly love others as I should?
Con amore in Cristo,
Bluebird
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