Yearly Checkup

It has been a full year now that I have been a part of the adult world, a place that I found very daunting. Having this internal fear of never wanting to grow up, and become locked down in a job.

A year ago , I moved out of my parent’s house and into my first ever apartment by myself. I really recommend living by yourself for at least one year.  I’ve learned so much about myself, good and bad. But most of all I’ve learned that I don’t need other people to make me happy. I have become my own best friend and so far I’ve been very reliable to myself which is cool. But there were times when it wasn’t so happy. I went from being on a team of 27 girls , who I HAD to be around what felt like 24 hours a day for 8 months of the year, to being by myself and my cat. I literally didn’t know what to do. At first i was like “ Zomg 5ever alone poor me”. But as time went on I really grew to like doing things by myself. Hiking  , movies (don’t have to share popcorn with ANYONE) , exercise , dinner, the whole deal. I’ve really grown as a person for the good in the past year and I couldn't be any happier about it.

Now if you know anything about me you’d know that I set goals and I do whatever it takes to achieve them. I have high expectations for myself and I push myself fairly hard. But I’ve found that I have to take a step back every now and then and just tell myself that “I am 22 years old, not 60. I don’t have to do everything RIGHT NOW “ . I also contribute that to me being a very impatient person but that’s a whole other post to be honest.  So , it took me a very long time to get my work and fun time balanced because it felt like I was wasting valuable work time when I would do anything fun. I wouldn't take off of work because it just felt weird and unproductive.  But slowly I’ve learned the true meaning of mental health days. If I give any advice to anyone, it’s to find the balance of work and fun as soon as possible. It will make your life so much more rewarding.

Those are just a couple of things that I’ve learned in the past year about myself, “adult life” and work. I’ve grown accustomed to my routine and I feel good about it currently. Life is going well and I am doing well. So please excuse me as I go shop on pottery barn because I now understand why adults like nice things in their house.

--Hannah