Twenty Times Around The Sun

It should seem that this Wednesday just passed, I threw off my teenage shoes (at least I think I had a pair of those..) and jumped into my twenties! How scary! Mostly because I'm "the baby" of the family, and to think that my sisters and I are all well and truly adults by now... it's insane!


The day went well, starting with plenty of birthday wishes and surprises (like my package from Canada full of some of the most awesome things), followed by friendly visits, and ended in a night with the family - who all hit the wine together. Oh the joy of unlicensed venues that offer you to Bring Your Own. It was actually rather fun/ny! For us at least. The wait-staff at the resteraunt we went to probably thought we were nuts.




My sisters and I out at dinner on my birthday; Natalie, Marissa, Laura


So while I know that New Years may seem like a more appropriate time to reflect on the year that has been, I thought I would take the time now to note some important things that I have learnt since turning nineteen last year. You would hope that I would have become just a little bit wiser, yeah?

So here goes.

+ Happiness is a Warm Gym: The gym is not a bad place; The gym keeps you sane! I actually started going before my birthday last year, but I was well and truly dedicated to going right up until some tough times with uni this year. I love feeling fit and strong, and the happiness and confidence that comes with exercise. How I need to go back!

+ There is no place like Southbound: I attended my first ever Southbound Festival at the beginning of 2008; an annual 2-day camping festival down in the South-West of Western Australia, packed full of great bands and endless fun. While it was exhausting, hot, dirty, and uncomfortable - you wouldn't think to have it any other way. I'm going to the 2009 event in just a few weeks! How exciting!

+ You don't need a high TER to do uni: So I got a fairly poor Tertiary Entrance Rank when I sat my TEE a few years back. I was pretty crushed at the time, because I knew that I wanted to keep studying and do something that I enjoyed. After plenty of working and a couple of TAFE courses, I finally went to uni this year. And that was simply by applying with my high school grades and a letter/resume. AND - I've even received High Distinctions and Distinctions for a fair share of my units. So it just goes to show, if you put in the effort, you will get the results.

+ Absence makes the heart grow fonder: While I definitely haven't realised I've been in love with one of my closest friends all this time!... I had a friend spend a good majority of the year overseas. First in China, now in Canada. While he was here, I found that I was unfortunately finding myself getting mad with him over silly little things. I guess that when you know somebody incredibly well, it's easy to do that. It wasn't until he went away that I realised how much I value our friendship and certain qualities about him. So in a way, I'm glad that we had that distance for all this time, and certainly cannot wait for him to return to the land of Oz!

+ Positive things come to positive people: This year I received a book called 'You Can Heal Your Life'. It sounds a bit corny, and people would brush it off as "things you already know and don't need to hear from some fruit loop that thinks they know it all". But honestly, I am so glad to have read it. Every page filled you with positivity and reinforced the fact that you only get out of life what you put in. Positive thoughts will lead to positive things happening in your life. People that are negative are only going to keep falling into negative patterns.
This was most certainly true for finally getting my Phase II for driving this year. I failed the first time because I kept telling myself that I wasn't ready, that I couldn't do it, that it would go badly. I beat myself up about driving really badly.
However the second time around I told myself I could do this, that I was prepared, that I knew everything that there was to know - and managed to have the most lovely assessor for my practical driving test! She passed me and I was just estatic!

I also feel that just recently I have learnt to like myself a whole lot better, and it is now that I seem to be attracting a lot more new people into my life. I want this to continue, which can be hard when you start feeling down - So I guess I just need to keep my chin up!

I'm sure there are a lot more things I have learnt (including with regards to friendships and what I've actually learnt in terms of new methods of making art and such at uni), but this list would be never-ending!

Maybe you too could reflect on what's changed over the course of the year? I love hearing other people's stories!
Happy list-making! x