What Being 26 Taught Me

2020 was my 26^th year of life and it was interesting one. Corona happened, I got married, I had a new home. There were a lot of major life adjustments I had to make this year and despite Covid 19 being a most annoying constant I survived it all. So here’s what being 26 taught me:

Self- love

Firstly, on the list is self-love. At the turn of this year I had a major struggle with acne which swiftly became cystic. It was at its peak near my wedding day and even on the very day I still had pimples.

I had to love myself through it. And my husband showed me how. He never made me feel any less beautiful not for a single moment. In the early months to me, my face was like a horror movie. I didn’t want to look at it and I certainly didn’t want to be seen with it. My speckled and spotted face was a sore topic (pun intended). Some days I’d wake up encouraged some pimples had disappeared and other days I wouldn’t want to leave the house.

I was trying different products and some days it looked better some days it looked worse. However, through the good and the bad days I had come to love myself. Although I was a little sensitive about my appearance I had the courage to share my journey. Within myself I knew that who I was could not be defined by appearance. Through God’s grace I found peace in that it wouldn’t last forever and one day I’d have clear skin again.

As the days go by and my skin continues to clear, I have a greater appreciation of my body and I want to take care of it the best way I can. In a strange way I’m grateful for the experience. The investment into time, research and products was not in vain because I’ll always have it to use for the future.

Forgiveness and boundaries

Secondly, this year I learnt to forgive but instil boundaries. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve had some friendships go awry in the recent past and I’ve sought to make peace with the situations. However, I understand that while as friends (or former friends) we can iron out our issues a friendship does not need to ensue. I’ve learnt that boundaries are especially important for the friends that have not changed. It’s true that we teach people how to treat us and I’ve been very careful about teaching the people I allow into my life how to treat me.

Good work pays off

Thirdly and on a more positive note, I now have a money earning blog! As you may have noticed my site has ads. This year the ads really started to pay off. Thanks to your reading and clicking the ads. Creating another income stream with my blog has been a dream of mine and it’s becoming a reality.

With Google AdSense, you get to see the best ads for you and if you see anything you like don’t be afraid to click it. The money earned will help me keep this blog alive and my dream is to host a giveaway for my loyal readers and subscribers.

It has been great to see that my work is paying off in several ways.

My viewership climbed dramatically this year and monthly views are steadily growing.
Blog earnings grew as the viewership grew.
I’ve gained more blog subscribers.

If you’re interested in starting a blog I’ll be sharing more about the process in the coming weeks.

Dream bigger

2020 has put a lot of things into perspective. All that we took for granted was taken from us. It got me thinking about what I want from this life. With each passing year, I’ve grown closer to my dreams and if I’m honest my dreams aren’t the biggest. I’ve always had very practical and attainable dreams. But being 26 has taught me that I can achieve more than I think and it’s time to take the limits off God.

What have you learnt over this past year? Let me know in the comments.

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