30 Years of Wisdom

It happened.  I turned 30.  My 20's were so fantastic that it's hard to imagine this next decade measuring up.  I guess if I've learned anything though, it's that you can never predict the awesomeness that will happen in the future. Awesomeness.

As I've been reflecting on my birthday, the end of a decade, and the beginning of a new year and adventure, I decided to put together a list of 30 things I've learned so far, want to improve on, or will accomplish in 2014.

10 Things I've Learned So Far

1. Always document life through pictures and video, even (or especially) when you are the only one and people think you're being weird.
2. Try not to let people take advantage of your kindness, but always err on the side of being kind over being cruel.
3. When you expect the worst of people, you're almost always right.
4. When you expect the best of people, you may not always be right, but you are much happier.
5. You don't have to be rich to travel.
6. A bad me comes out when I'm hungry. The worst me comes out when I'm scared.
7. "Because that's how we've always done it" is the worst reason to continue doing something. Find a better reason or a better way.
8. Things are cool, but in the grand scheme of it, not important at all. Things, are just things.
9. Some people just won't like me, and I have to be ok with that.
10. It is our differences that make us all unique and beautiful. Embrace them.

10 Things I Want To Do Better

1. Be funny without being mean. Ellen taught me this, and she is so wise.
2. Gratitude.  
3. More openly supportive and uplifting. People in my life just need to know how freaking awesome they are.
4. Walk more. There simply isn't a reason not to.
5. Listen.
6. Forgive quicker. Especially myself.
7. Be more thoughtful. As in, think before I speak, or judge, or make significant life altering decisions.
8. Take advantage of this city. I've been experiencing it, but I can do even better.
9. Soak in more wisdom from the elderly. Those people know what's up.
10. Budget my time. I love freedom, and budgeting my time will open so many doors.

10 Things I'll Do This Year

1. Say Yes. My main New Year's Resolution is to live my life with a Yes attitude. I'm not going to be crazy or weird about it, but a lot can happen when you open yourself to possibilities.
2. Take a moment to be selfish. Sometimes it's ok to work on yourself and find what makes you most happy.
3. Find creative ways to serve others. New York is full of small service opportunities. I'm going to work harder to jump on them.
4. Find the charity that I want to be associated with and get involved. I've been doing a lot of research on this. If you have any suggestions feel free to leave a comment.
5. Travel. It's been a few years, and I feel the need to see some new places.
6. Read. I fell away from that a bit last year and have really missed it.
7. Reactive myself on this blog. I've been so busy blogging for Zagg lately, but it wouldn't be hard to add posts here as well. 
8. I'd like to run a race this year.
9. Cooking. My cooking is embarrassing. This year I will find, practice, and perfect what will become my signature dish.
10. Work harder. I found myself in a bit of a slump because I'd started to slack. This year, I'm going to do better.