24 things I’ve learnt by 24

I’ll be turning 24 this year, and so I thought an interesting post would be 24 things I’ve learnt by 24.

So here we go!

1. Being a parent is hard. I don’t think you’re ever truly prepared for how hard life can be as a parent. Having down days and still having to be a parent regardless is tough, but always worth it.
2. Finding a good hair dresser is KEY. I spent years cutting and dying my own hair, which sometimes worked, but most of the time, it definitely didn’t… My sister is now my hair dresser and it’s made my life SO MUCH EASIER.
3. Look after your skin (sooner rather than later!). I learned this fairly early on thankfully, and I’ve always been quite lucky with my skin. But even if I don’t have a proper skin care, I still moisturise every day and take my makeup off every night.
4. Finding your ‘style’ can take years. For years I struggled to find what I was really comfortable in and what looked ‘right’ on me. Although now I know what matters is that I feel comfortable with how I look, I don’t limit myself to certain types of clothing anymore and just wear what I want want to wear.
5. Hangovers really do get worse as you get older. Jesus, I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or since I’ve had Grayson but 2-3 day hangovers are REAL and they are SHIT. I genuinely can’t drink much anymore for the fear of the hangovers.
6. The majority of the stuff you learnt at school is pointless. I always had the fear that I would really struggle once I left school because I found a lot of subjects quite difficult. But a big amount of the stuff I learned in Science, Maths and English, haven’t actually translated to real life. Im not saying you shouldn’t try, but you definitely shouldn’t have to worry as much as schools try to make you.
7. Maintaining friendships is hard. In recent years I have lost a lot of friends through different reasons and issues, but the main thing is that I reached a point where I couldn’t put other people above my own feelings any longer. You’ll soon realise who your real friends are.
8. Looking after you mental health is super important. My mental health is something I really try to look after now, because I can really tell when I’m suffering due to my mental health. I try to have self care days and try to look after myself, so that I have more good days than bad.
9. Learning to let go of past pain is tricky, but totally worth it. I have a lot of issues and things that bother me that relate to my past, but I’m slowly trying to let go of the stuff that has caused me pain in the past.
10. Finding “the one” is incredible. There is literally nothing better than finding your soul mate and someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, it’s like no one else has ever been there and never could be.
11. Being a parent is amazing. It is bloody tough, and some days you wonder how the hell you’ll keep doing it. But you do and watching your child learn and grow and the hugs and kisses, make it so worth it!!
12. Being an adult is expensive. Bills, loans, weddings, holidays, kids, pets, food, nights out, birthdays, Christmas. IT’S NEVER ENDING.
13. Not driving isn’t the end of the world. I tried learning to drive for a number of years, and it caused a lot of anxiety for me for a number of years and eventually I realised it wasn’t worth the stress it was putting on me. I plan on trying to drive again at some point, but right now it isn’t a priority and that’s OK.
14. Things that embarrassed you as a kid, probably won’t anymore. This links to my last point in this post, I used to be so embarrassed by the fact I couldn’t ride a bike and that I struggled to tell the time and a number of other things. However, in the grand scheme of things, these things really don’t matter.
15. There’s nothing better than a bath, a glass of wine and an early night. Enough said.
16. Learn from your past mistakes. I’ve been a teenager and done some dumb shit in my time, I’ve let my emotions get the better of me, but all you can do is learn from these mistakes and try and grow as a person.
17. You still get spots. The spots never go away, no matter what your age.
18. Life doesn’t always end up how you expect, and that’s OK. Life doesn’t always go the way you’d planned, but that’s not a bad thing and a lot of the time things turn out better in the long run.
19. Even as an adult, I struggle to love myself. I’ve always read and heard people saying that as you get older, you start to love yourself more. I’m not really there yet, but I definitely don’t hate myself as much as I have done in the past.
20. You can choose your family. A lot of the time people will say to you “yeah they’ve been a dick but they’re still your mum/dad/sibling etc.” This shouldn’t be the case though, put your happiness first!
21. I love astrology. I know it isn’t for everyone, but in the past few years I’ve discovered how much I love astrology and how interesting I find it. I think it’s important to find things you enjoy, no matter what age you are.
22. I still don’t drink enough water. I need to drink more bloody water. Simples.
23. Not going to uni didn’t ruin my life. When I didn’t get into the uni I wanted, I was devastated and heartbroken. I ended up getting an apprenticeship in business administration and finding something I was good at and enjoyed and it all worked out in the end for me.
24. Still haven’t learned to ride a bike. Something I’ve not learned, but hasn’t ever really effected me. I used to be really embarrassed by this as a kid, whereas now I like that it makes me different.