The Things I’ve Learnt As I’ve Gotten Older

This is a post all about the things I’ve learnt as I’ve gotten older. I now think that getting older is a blessing. There was a period a few years ago when I was dreading aging. I didn’t want to be any older than 25. I figured that it would be all downhill from that point on. The fine lines would creep in, I would slow down, and my life would change immensely. It was a childish and selfish way to look at my life.

But then my nan was diagnosed with cancer. Each day, I had to take her to Western Park which is a cancer specialist center in Sheffield. Sitting in that facility every single day for months on end, I saw people that would have given everything they own to live another day. There was a sudden shift in me and I realised that aging was a blessing. Not only that, but with age comes so many other benefits. You learn so much about yourself, others and everything else in between. In this post, I am going to share the things that I’ve learnt as I’ve got older.

 

 

You cannot please everybody.

Coming from the queen of people pleasing, this was a difficult revelation to stumble upon. I like to make everybody happy and over the years that has meant that I bend over backwards for everybody. Including people that don’t deserve my time or energy. Thanks to the beauty of aging, I realised that you cannot please everybody. It is good to set boundaries, protect your space and encourage other people to be independent. It can be incredibly hard to break that people pleasing boundary, but it is worth it in the end.

 

Energy is incredibly influential.

Back in the day, I thought that anybody that spoke about energy was a hippy. I didn’t know what they were on about and I thought that they had their head in the clouds. One of the things that I have learnt as I’ve got older is the importance of energy. Most importantly, positive energy. A while ago, I realised that some of the people that I had in my life, including friends, were very negative. They radiated this dark energy from their pessimistic attitude and it rubbed off. The more time I spent with them, the more I realised that their negativity was rubbing off on me. That is when it dawned on me the importance of energy. Ensuring that you are nourishing yourself with positive energy and emitting it to others.

 

Positivity can feed you.

This point kind of follows on from the things that I mentioned above regarding energy. When I had my revelation regarding energy, I realised that I wanted to opt for positivity. If I can take a route, I want it to always be positivity. It is easier said than done, especially when you are naturally quite a pessimist. But I have been changing that. The beauty of getting is older is looking back on how you have been/acted previously and realizing that a change can be made for the better.

 

Work isn’t everything.

When I first started working, I threw myself into it. Especially when I began climbing the ladder and earning more money. I never thought that I would be in the amazing financial position that I am in, which is why I felt a level of imposter syndrome and killed myself for work. I went above and beyond and put myself under so much stress. Now, I realise that there is so much to life than working. I used to life to work and prove my worth. These days, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I always want to work hard, but it isn’t the be all and end all. I work to earn money, so that I can live a happy and fulfilled live away from the office.

 

Friends can be your family.

Up next in this post about the things I’ve learnt as I’ve gotten older is friendships. There have been periods in my life where I haven’t gotten along with my family. I think it happens to many people. It is incredibly difficult to like everybody all of the time. My most strained family relationship is without a doubt my sister. She wouldn’t mind me saying this, but we are incredibly different people. Whereas we always have an underlaying love and respect between us, there are fundamental things about us that can cause friction. During these times, the occasions when I need a sister, I turn to my friends. I have some amazing friends, many of which I deem closer than a simple friendship. We love each other like family, and I never feel like I am lacking that close sisterly relationship due to my amazing friendships.

 

It’s ok to shift priorities.

Obviously, as you get older your priorities change. Whereas once my priorities were my friends, social life and going out, they couldn’t be more different now. Those things are still important to me, but instead there are other things that I would prioritize. I tried to fight against it to begin with because I didn’t want to let people down or for others to think that they weren’t as important to me anymore. But changing priorities is simply growth. It happens to us all and it is needed. I also think that you need to remember that everybody will go through huge life changes where as a result their priorities have to change. It isn’t just you.

 

I hope that you guys enjoyed reading this post about the things that I’ve learnt as I’ve got older. Aging is a blessing. There might be times, when you get frustrated with the aging process, but just remember the people that would love to be getting older. It took something dramatic for me to put it into perspective and give me a more positive view on aging. I think in western society, you are deemed young and beautiful in your 20s and 30s. From there, people don’t seem to pay you attention or see you in the same light as the younger generation. But I think that people who are the same age as me are going to put a stop to that and change the status quo. Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think about the things I’ve learnt as I’ve gotten older.