Thinking back to 20 years old me: wide- eyed and oozing with excitement. The unknowns, the infinite possibilities.
My list of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do grew as each day went by.
Each year I felt like I was closer to “starting to live life”. My heart was the biggest voice in my head and the captain of my ship called life. It was almost as if I had blinders on and was just focused on growing and evolving as a person.
Of course, if you were to have asked me back then, I would have just said I’m doing what feels right- not much thought put into it. But one thing was always clear in my mind, I wanted to do something big, I wanted to BE something big.
When I was 23, I met my now husband, who had his eyes equally set on that BIG future.
Hand in hand, we ran together into our futures, collecting as many memories and experiences as we could along the way.
Those around us would seek to protect us by trying to “snap us back into reality” or cautioning us that one day we would have to start living “in the real world”. But this was our real world, the unknown fueled us.
We made very thought- out moves that opened more and more doors, meeting more and more people, gaining more and more perspectives and feeling what it meant to really feel alive.
This time was essential to forming our core values, honing in on what it was that we wanted for our future. The relationship we gained with our bodies, with our hearts and our minds, and with each other. We grew and learned, and saw so much over those 6 years.
July 11, 2023 – the day I turned 30 years old.
We were in Cassis, France, a Mediterranean fishing port town in Southern France, in the French Riviera. The evening we arrived, we headed down to the pebbly beach and made our way onto a large rock, our feet in the crystal clear water. The waves hit our legs and we talked and dreamed as the skies turned from a cloudless blue to a fiery orange and then finally a twinkly starry night. The beach was lively- music playing, people laughing and dancing.
The clock struck midnight, officially putting my twenties behind me. Gratitude and joy filled me with every thought of my twenties, I truly wouldn’t change one thing.
The experiences and adventures we got into in our twenties are what has formed so much of who we are today.
The day I welcomed my thirties, was the day I feel like my mind and my heart switched from seeing the world with wide, open, googly eyes ready to soak in whatever and wherever I was at the time, to eyes of execution, of taking what we have learned and turning it into something.
I was full of excitement for what the thirties were going to bring, while also staying really present with the change that I was feeling inside.
We gave time to reminisce on the twenties before closing that chapter and opening up the next, extremely exciting one.
When looking at the photos of us in our twenties, our eyes full of naiveté, the relaxation and peace in our faces, the zest for life that exuded from us with every dramatic background change, it makes me want to scream at the top of the mountain, SOAK IN YOUR TWENTIES!
You will have the rest of your life to “be an adult” and do “adult things”, but don’t pigeon hole your life in your twenties.
Don’t rush out of that healthy naiveté, keep the zest for life and sample, taste, savor.
Try new foods, travel to new places (near or far), romanticize every moment, meet new people. Try new styles of clothing, new haircuts, new styles of decorating. Unplug from the world every so often and learn to ask yourself what it is that YOU like. Fall in love with yourself first so that you can attract your true soulmate.
Your twenties are for sampling life experiences.
Now, the exploration doesn’t stop in your twenties, nor does the sampling and experimenting. Each decade comes with its own beauty. Being thirty has opened up worlds that would’ve never been available in my twenties. The thirties come with time and intelligence to hone in on what was sampled in the twenties, doubling down and now making it part of your lifestyle. The thirties has brought a sense of grounding, peace and sureness around boundaries and learning the true art of empathy while still protecting my flame. This could even be finding the right environment to thrive that aligns with the values you define your life with.
Each year, each decade has it’s beauty. Let’s not take any of them for granted.
Take time, everyday, to create memories that you are so proud to look back on. Life will keep going whether you’re present with it or not. So be present with every day, every week, every year and make your life one that you’re so excited about.
Remember, your life is no one else’s but yours. It’s the life that only you will look back on at 100 years old. Make it one that you’re so proud of. Let’s get to 100 feeling fulfilled with the life that we lived.
Because if not, then what’s the point?
As always, sending you lots of love <3
Until next time,
Cristina Marie
