Getting There

A friend and I were talking about being in our twenties.

"If I could go back to being in my twenties..." she said.

"Not for a million dollars."

"Nope."

"I mean ... No. Just no."

"Agreed. I mean, I wouldn't redo anything? Because it got me to here and here is pretty great. So I don't have any regrets."

"Exactly. Although, if I could have told myself one thing, it would have been to trust my gut."

"That's a good one."

"I know, right?"

But that made me think about the things that I wish I'd learned when I was in my twenties that I'm only just figuring out now. Things like:

1) The bloody mary is the most delicious beverage on the planet. Try one.

2) Credit cards are not your friends. Your friends are your friends. Stop using credit cards to fill the spaces in your life that you won't let your friends into.

3) Happiness -- the best happiness, the most glorious levels of joy? -- is derived from fairly simple things.

4) Listen to your gut. That great guy, the one everyone likes but who sets off alarms in your soul? That's because he's not good for you. Believe those alarms.

5) It's okay to walk a path that is different from everyone else's. We're not all meant to walk together forever.

6) Keep the people who make you smile close to your heart. Let go of the people who make you cry.

7) It's okay not to be good at everything. It's not okay to give something up because you don't think you're good at it.

8) You are not as awkward as you think you are. You're awkward? But no one is that awkward. You're okay.

9) Some people are going to think you're lovely. Some people are going to think you're not. They don't need to be your yardstick for self worth. Believe in the face you see in the mirror and the heart that lives behind it. That's important.

10) The lessons you learn are subject to change. Change is good, both in your life and in your pocket.

11) You will never stop figuring it out.