10 Lessons I've Learnt As A 22-Year-Old

If you're reading this on the day it's published, June 8th 2018, it is my 23rd birthday.

Soooo technically, I've written this a couple of days in advance, because I have far too much cake to eat and tequila to consume to be writing a blog post on my actual birthday.

But my twenty-second year, has been a good one.

A very good one, although it has definitely had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

To say my life has changed somewhat in the past 12 months, is the biggest understatement of the century.

This time last year, I was one week into my first "adult" job, working for a PR firm in London.

In the months that followed, I graduated from university, lost one of my close friends, quit boring London job and moved to Australia.

So, you know, not much.

I'm now working in Sydney - a city I have fallen in love with - and am writing and video-editing to save up money and eventually continue my travels.

Basically, life is hell'a sweet right now.

The last year has taught me more about myself than any other year. I've grown in confidence, happiness and realised just how short life is.

Which makes for a perfect reason, for me to write a blog post on those life lessons.

Even the ones I definitely wish I hadn't learnt the hard way.

1. Most of the time, it's not worth forcing friendships. If you know Jessica from work doesn't like you, don't try and live to please her, don't step on eggshells.
   
   Be confident in who you are, they are the one with the problem.
   
   
2. You can do anything, but not everything. This is one of my new life-mantras.
   
   Anything is possible, but not if you try and do it all at once. Good things take time, focus on your goal, work hard and you'll reap the benefits.
   
   
3. You're never too old to get head lice. Picture this. It's 2017, you're living in a house on the outskirts of London with your best girl friends, you're all in your 20's and going out for brunch is a regular agenda.
   
   You are Carrie Bradshaw.
   
   Except, one housemate drops the bombshell she's had an itchy head. Three days later, the WHOLE house has itchy heads.
   
   Cue a full week in house-quarantine, getting very close and personal with each other's hair, and a week later, we are finally free.
   
   
4. Insta themes are like, really f***ing hard to achieve. I went through a very autumn-goals theme last October. It lasted a week, then I gave up.
   
   
5. There really isn't anyone more loving than your parents. If you'd told me on my 22nd birthday that I'd spend 4 months living back home with my parents this year, I'd have called you mad.
   
   Half of the reason I went so quickly into a job from university, was the fact I never wanted to move back to Dorset.
   
   As it turns out, I moved back out of choice.
   
   And for all of the arguments and silly fights which were basically all about whether I could actually save enough money to move to Australia (fair enough), I feel like I've never valued my mum and dad more than I do right now.
   
   
   
6. Skincare first, makeup second. 22 was the age I threw out my face wipes and invested in a face wash.
   
    I now cleanse, wash and moisturise my face properly
   
   And oh me, oh my, has my skin been thankful for it.
   
   
7. Go with your gut. If I'm honest, this isn't a lesson I've "learnt" in the last year, but it is one which has been tested to the absolute maximum.
   
   This time last year, I was turning 22 in my new, fancy-schmancy workplace, where "Prosecco Friday" was a thing and team days out consisted of getting drunk a Bounce, a London ping-pong club.
   
   I was apartment hunting with two friends in Clapham and had spent the last month throwing off a lot of "oh my goodness congratulations"'s and "oh my god you're an ADULT"'s.
   
   But I knew, I knew that lifestyle wasn't for me. It took a couple of bottles of red and a chat with one of my best friends, but I went with my instinct and haven't looked back since.
   
   
8.  Non-fiction books are just as interesting as fictional stories. This year has been the YEAR of non-fiction books for me.
   
   I've always wanted to be that person that people want on their team in trivia. A fountain of interesting, but fairly useless, knowledge.
   
   I'm not quite there yet, but I love soaking in and regurgitating the facts, figures and theories I've read in non-fiction books. I can't believe it took me 22 years to pick up a book which wasn't fiction!
   
   (For those wondering, my favourite non-fiction book is Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything).
   
   
9. Never turn down opportunities in fear of what others might think of you. It took a long time to learn, the only person who will care in the long run, is you.
   
   
10. In the words of JB, "love yourself". 22 was the age I became confident and happy in myself. I learnt that striving to be healthier or fitter, doesn't mean you can't embrace who you are now.
    

So, those are the top lessons I've learnt in the last 12 months. 

Thank you for everyone who's joined me on my little internet space in the last year, whether it was last June 8th, or yesterday.

Love, Alice x