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What I’ve Learned in My 28th Year

posted on June 2, 2016 | by Amanda Holstein

It’s my birthday, you guys!!! Yay!! I cannot believe I’m 28 years old today (and that much closer to being 30). I started this blog when I was 24 and it’s crazy to me how much has changed in just four years. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — your twenties are a time of tremendous growth and that is seriously evident as I look back at my 24-year-old self compared to now.

So for my 28th birthday, I thought I’d take a look back at my 28th year of living and reflect on what I’ve learned and what I’d like to work on in this next year.

Nothing makes me happier than being surrounded by the people I love.

After moving from coast to coast and watching friends & family move as well, I’m realizing more and more that all I really need in life is to be surrounded by the people I love. There is literally nothing better than a deep genuine connection with someone who understands you to your fullest and lets you be you. Most of us are lucky to have just one person like that in our lives, but I’m fortunate enough to have a handful scattered around the world who I miss everyday. Because of this, I’m finding that I don’t need much to make me happy — as long as the people I love are there, that’s all I really need.

Maintaining strong relationships takes effort.

Now that life is getting busier and my close friends and family don’t necessary live in the same city as me, I’m realizing just how much effort it takes to maintain those strong relationships. I’m trying hard to make specific plans to visit the people I love and trying to keep them in the loop on everyday stuff, rather than just having that one long catch-up every so often.

I can’t do everything by myself.

I’ve always been someone who likes to do things on my own. I guess there’s no surprise there since I left my full-time job a year and a half ago to pursue my blog, running it as a business on my own. Well I’m finally starting to realize that I just can’t do everything myself, as much as I wish I could. If I really want my business to grow, I need help and it’s about time I start asking for it. More on that soon!

I need hobbies or I’ll go crazy.

For the past year, my life has really been focused on growing my blog so that I can support myself by doing what I love. Because just about all of my focus has been on that, I’ve forgotten about the other things that make me happy, like soccer and painting. After putting those things on the back burner this past year, I’m going to make my hobbies a bigger priority because they are just as important as work!

I’m always happier when I listen to my gut.

This is a lesson I continue to relearn over and over again. The more I listen to what my gut, deep down, is telling me to do and feel, the better off I am. Tapping into what you’re feeling deep down is the hard part. But I can see that the more I practice, the better I get at hearing what my gut is telling me. And it hasn’t failed me yet!