Wisdom at 20

When I recently updated my profile picture on Facebook (after over 5 years!), someone complimented that I still look the same as I did when I was a vibrant 20 year old :). This obviously brought a huge smile on my face, and got me reminiscing of my days when I was 20 years old. Back then, I had the typical plan for my life, where I would finish school, start my career and a family, and then retire. I thought life was just as simple as that! Little did I know then that there is much more to life than meets the eye. 

Life does not always go as planned since we all have to face several tough situations to learn more about ourselves. If we have the right wisdom and tools, we can overcome these situations effectively. I have to admit that I do wish that I had the right wisdom for my life when I was in my 20s so that I would have handled some challenges with a better mindset. Therefore, I want to share several key pieces of wisdom that I would have told myself when I was 20 years old.

  • Believe in the power of karma: As one would say, ‘what goes around, comes around'. Everything that we put out there in the world through our thoughts and actions, will one day definitely come back to you in one way or another. For one instance, out of nowhere, I exploded at a close friend by saying mean words and never apologizing. And then a similar thing happened to me when another friend got upset at me suddenly. This made me realize how one feels when they are at the receiving end of a sudden outburst. This all happened due to the power of karma. Karma is the powerful ancient law of cosmic cause and effect. And your actions in past and current lifetimes can determine what happens to you now. However, you can control your karmas. No matter how tough the situations are, try to not react to them negatively, or else you will create more negative karma for you to deal with in the future. By being positive, you will make positive "deposits" in your karmic bank account [1].
  • Stop overthinking and becoming sad about the past because it did not go as planned: Until my mid-20s, I was truly naive to believe that everything will go according to plan and that there is no such thing as failures in life. Unfortunately, I realized that this is not what life is truly about. I was sad for numerous years that the outcomes of many situations were not what I imagined they would be. I would then replay the situations over and over in my mind, like a broken record. And then I noticed more negative things were occurring in my life because I was sad or frustrated with my current life. I now realized that we all will face tough situations due to past karmas and that the most important thing is to try to learn the lesson from the situation as quickly as you can and then move forward and to be positive. As well, I now know that I need to be extremely mindful about how I perceive and react to situations as they will create the karmas that I would deal with in the future.
  • My true happiness is not dependent on the external world: As long as I can remember, I have always wanted to make everyone that I encountered very happy. When I see others happy, I get happy. However, over time, my own happiness was moved to the bottom of my life as I focused more and more on others' joy. And when they were not happy with me, I was not happy. I now realize that I cannot make everyone happy, and I need to make sure that my happiness is not dependent on others. Last year, when I was prioritizing making myself happy first, I noticed that my own happiness grew so robust that it was not influenced by others' unhappiness. And it then became easier for me to bring joy into others' lives.
  • Create your own authentic timeline: When I was a girl, I pretty much had a set plan for my life based on what everyone was telling me - study until I was in my 20s, then start your career, have a family with few kids by early 30s, and then retire at 65. Even though this is a nice timeline, this is not what happened. And when I saw what was happening in other’s lives, I felt behind in my own journey. However, I now know that I should not be rushed by other people's timelines. I have an authentic journey with its own unique experiences. You own your journey and are responsible for it, not anyone else, so why not create your own authentic one where you slow down and savor the moment, and build components to your journey the way you want it. Make it the best life possible that you will forever cherish and leave a legacy behind.

These words of wisdom are now the foundation of my journey. And moving forward, I look forward to learning more wisdom as I navigate through this world.

 

REFLECTION

  1. What wisdom would you share with your younger self? 
  2. If there was one challenging situation from the past that you would react more positively, what would it be?

   

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REFERENCES

[1] https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780060937478/the-power-of-karma/#:~:text=Karma%20is%20the%20powerful%20ancient,matter%20what%20your%20past%20karma

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