MY LIFE LESSONS

As some of you may know from Instagram and Snapchat (Michaelabear1), I celebrated my 24th Birthday earlier this month. I remember when I was a teenager, 24 seemed so old but now I feel like life is just getting started. I’m definitely someone who always dreaded getting older but I’m slowly realising that the older you get the wiser you become and learn to live life to the fullest. I feel that even in the past few months since moving to New York I’ve learned so much about myself and thought I would share some of my favourite life lessons.

Push Yourself: Sometimes I don’t even think we realise what we are actually capable of. Its easy to get into a daily routine where you do the same things day in day out and eventually come to a point where you wonder what’s next? The answer is nothing, unless you make something happen! Dreamed of moving countries, changing jobs then push yourself and try it. If all else fails then at least you have the comfort of knowing you tried your best!

It’s ok to treat animals like they are people: I’m sure many of you who have followed me for sometime know how much I love my dogs back home in Ireland and I have to say my life is incomplete without a fur baby here in New York. That said I still talk to them on Skype everyday and just know there will be so many tears of happiness when I see them at Christmas.

Be Yourself: You know how when you were growing up you always wanted to be like the cool girl in school? I think its only in the past few years that I’ve realized the coolest person that I can be is myself, and you guys too! Nobody is as unique as you are and being confident in yourself is what will set you apart from anybody else!

Life is about making stories to tell the grandkids: I tell myself this at least once a week. Whether its a good or bad experience, it’s still a lesson to be learned and a funny story to share when your 70! Like this morning walking to work, a random homeless man whacked me in the tummy out of nowhere, and at the moment I was like WTF? But now its actually kind of a funny story!

Whats meant to be will be: As cliche as this one is, the older I get the truer this seems. When something doesn’t go your way its easy to get worked up and worried about it, but at the end of the day maybe it just wasn’t the right opportunity or the right time! I initially wanted to move to New York over a year ago and I remember being back home, doing my post grad wondering why didn’t I just move when I wanted to but now I realise it wasn’t the right time. If I moved then, I wouldn’t have gotten my education in Business and I most certainly wouldn’t have landed my dream job with MTV!

Be grateful to your parents: I swear the older I get, the closer I get to my parents, if that’s even possible. Some kids can’t wait to move out and start living their own life but I was the opposite, If I didn’t push myself to move here, I would have happily lived with my Mom and Dad until I get married. Our parents sacrifice so much for us and are the first people to reassure us when things aren’t going so well so its important to thank them every once in a while and tell them how much you love them! I’m not one bit ashamed that I have to speak with them on the phone twice a day, even if I look like an eejet walking down 5th ave on FaceTime!

Its ok to be still figuring out what to do when you grow up: Remember when we were kids and thought 24 was so old and that you would have everything figured out by then? Not True. I know so many people that I went to college with and even work with who still don’t know what they want to do with their lives (me like 6 months ago.) In today’s society people change careers on average 4 times over a lifespan. The best advice I would have for someone would be to try to find a job in a field you’re interested in and go from there! And even if you realise after a couple of months that its not what you want to spend your whole life doing, then that is a very important lesson learned and onto the next one!

A few true friends mean the world: The older I get, the more I’m realising the importance of friends. Having a few close friends who I can call and vent about my crappy day with, means so much more to me than having a hundred thousand acquaintances. For example the first night I moved to New York, I was so upset after leaving my family that my friend Jen stayed up half of the night with me while I was hysterically crying. She then treated me to Brunch the next morning and to me that is a true friend! #loveyoujen

Following on from that: Not everybody in the world will like you, and that is ok!

It’s true: Traveling is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer. So take every chance you get to visit somewhere new, even if its an unvisited town near where you live. Last November Cathal and I visited Paris for the first time together and I really fell in love with a new city and its culture. This year while living in New York, its definitely a little hard to save up to make those long hauled trips so we’ve planned some fun little road trips instead. Next month we’re going pumpkin picking upstate!

Miscellaneous: Drink lemon water (your skin will thank you for it), Write down all of your ideas, Smile at people on the street, Network as much as you can (you never know who’s helping hand you could need down the line), Buying yourself pretty flowers or cupcakes after a shitty day DOES help, and most importantly don’t compare your beginning to someone else middle!