Celebrating 34 Years! 34 Life Goals and a Few Life Lessons

!!! It is my birthday!!

I am 34?!

… and I have been literally all over the place in my mind that I hadn’t really sat down to think about my birthday, gather my thoughts about life, or even think about how it feels to be 34. Hell, I only decided yesterday that I am doing dinner at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint tonight. This should be fun!

I am in my mid-thirties yo!  I mean… I do not feel what I thought 34 would feel like. Sooooo interesting and exciting and there is so much that I do not know… So much that I still want to do and experience and I am only just getting started! BUT! I have learned a lot this past year- about myself and I wanted to share this with you. Is that okay?

As much as I have lived and have seen, being a military brat, there is so much more that I want out of life… but before I share those goals, I have to first share what I learned in this past year of 33, living in a new state by myself, and pushing my business to new places! Are you ready??

Life Lessons Learned at 33

FEAR. It is normal, healthy at times, and if harnessed can take you on an amazing journey of growth. I had long had this idea of bringing my blog to life, but I was scared, nervous, felt insecure about stepping out and doing something on my own.

But with an amazing support system and team, we got it done and now? I am even more revved up and hyped about next year. It was also one of the first times I stepped back and said, you did this Marie. I was so proud of myself for facing this.

Allow Myself to Feel My Emotions. I do not know where I got this from… maybe cultural or a mix of how I was raised, but something I have really been working on is allowing myself to feel my emotions without minimizing them, tucking them away, to make someone else feel better.

While I may not always show and share them on my blog or on social, allowing myself to feel them? To cry, to feel hurt, betrayal, confusion… I have given myself this space to do so.

I am, at times, way too hard on myself. I have goals, some quite ambitious, some small and extremely important, but I have realized that how I see myself and my successes is way different than some of my peers and while I may be focusing on the tasks I have yet to complete, others may see what I have already done.

Where I have seen where I dropped the ball or did not do my best, others have seen differently. While I am still working on this, I am really trying to do better at stopping to smell the lilies.

“Accept Your Nomination.” This was recently told to me by a very dear friend and it almost brought me to tears (I think it did though). This would also go hand in hand with Walking in and Operating in your gift. You see, God has blessed each one of us with gifts and callings but before you can fully operate in your blessing, you have to first accept your nomination.

Something that I hadn’t fully done yet! Hrmph. Which also ties into, What is for you, no man can take from you. Obviously, it has been a spiritual year of confidently growing into my space and place that God has for me, and owning that.

These are a few of the lessons that I learned just in this year! To say it has been a year of personal growth is an understatement. However, I am on a roll and have a few things I would love to see happen for me this year… call it a mini bucket list or

34 Things I Would Love to do Before I Turn 35

1. Find a church home and attend and become a member
2. Go on a vacation (or two)
3. Add a stamp or two to my passport
4. Take a long walk on a beach (with someone special)
5. Start walking and go to Zumba
6. Pick up and learn and do a bit of Yoga
7. Practice and gain some photography and video skills (especially for my blog)
8. Drink more water at least 1/2 liter a day…
9. Get Eyebrow Embroidery? I have fine brows (thanks to mom) and I want to get this done- bad
10. Make at least five items on my Sewing Machine (maybe I should get a table for it?)
11. Do at least one DIY Project around the house- I am so not that person, but I can be!
12. Host a dinner party
13. Have acupuncture
14. Fall in love- hehehe (my sister says I am nesting)
15. Go out for fun on a regular- NOT work related
16. Road trip the East coast or do more local trips to explore
17. Open up an investment portfolio
18. Go out dancing (I miss this)
19. Be a bit more daring in my fashion choices
20. Read more books- from business, to fiction, to self-help (always learning and trying to improve)
21. Do more things that scare me
22. Be a bit more emotionally open?
23. Decorate my sunroom
24. Dream big and then dream bigger than that
25. Create a more tangible 5 year plan for the business
26. Make a travel bucket list
27. Sketch more
28. Go swimming
29. Go to a few concerts or live music events
30. Learn how to make a killer cocktail
31. Tweak and own a family recipe
32. Get a sister tattoo
33. Get and keep a plant alive
34. Give myself a break or two or three!

Heheheh, if you are still reading this, then thank you! LOLOL

It is a rare thing for me to share a bit openly here and I will definitely try to do this more… but for me today? I am headed to the day spa to get massages and facials and then to dinner with the homies! A chill day but a blessed one!

Thank you for reading and celebrating and if you dug this, please share!