Hello everyone! It’s been such a long time since I’ve written a blog post – things have gotten so crazy! For those of you that still follow me, sending you lots of love and happiness! I hope you’re all having a wonderful 2019 so far, and I’m incredibly grateful for you and that you’re taking the time to read my blog! Thank you 🙂

So… in 24 days I turn 24 years old, which is crazy. As of March 1, I will officially be closer to my 30th birthday than my 18th, which is actually kind of freaking me out, so I’m just going to brush past it…

So, to celebrate my birthday this year, I got an inspiration from one of my family friends and from Margot Robbie – both of which had a 24-hour party to celebrate their 24th birthday, so I’m going to do that too! So, more updates on that coming soon 🙂

When I was trying to figure out what to write on this 24 till 24 post… I thought about my past year.

Specifically, I thought of an evening at my best family-friend’s house. It was the night before I came back to Philadelphia and she went to Seattle. We had multiple cups of tea and watched To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. We talked about living on our own, how much has changed, and our future plans.

One thing that we both agreed, was that we felt incredibly grateful. For the first time in our lives, we’re in a place where we can look fondly back at our past, but not in a longing way. We are thankful for our past, but we’re incredibly proud of where we are now

The truth is, I really enjoyed being 23: I got my license (finally, I’m still surprised that happened), I got into law school (and completed my first semester, yay!), I went on an amazing trip to Harry Potter World with my college roommates, and so much more.

So, in honor of that, I decided that I’m going to write 24 reminders/goals/thoughts for this new adventure. I’ve grown a lot these past 5 months, and I want to share these 24 things with you 🙂

1. Your life, and your purpose, is what you make it!
2. We’re all human. When someone makes a mistake, forgive them. When someone is struggling, help them out.
   I am incredibly grateful for my support system. Law school is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my family, my friends back home, and my amazing friends and community in law school. This is a shout-out to all of you.
   More than that: be supportive! Sisterhood is so important! Protect other girls, support other girls, sit next to girls who sit alone, compliment girls when you like something they’re wearing or on their handwriting! Don’t just sit and watch another girl be disrespected!
3. Take 5-10 minutes a day and reflect.
   Recently for a supplement to one of my classes, we had to take a “Greatest Strengths” test, where it would ask us 100 or so questions and would then return us our greatest strengths. My 5 greatest strengths from 5^th greatest strength to my greatest strength were the following.
   • Love: Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing & caring are reciprocated; being close to people
   • Perspective: Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of looking at the world that make sense to oneself/others.
   • Judgment: Thinking things through and examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change one’s mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly.
   • Prudence: Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.
   • Gratitude: Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks.
     I first thought that Gratitude was such a ridiculous strength, but it’s really helped me keep things in perspective this past year and remind me how lucky I really am
4. Be Brave!
   This I stole from Rafael in Jane the Virgin, but it’s true. Be brave, do things you wouldn’t normally do. Take the leap. Apply for that position you never think you’ll get. Learn a new skill. Try something you were too embarrassed to try before! Be brave 🙂
5. Ask for help!
   This one is my favorite, so I’m going to say it again
   ASK FOR HELP!!
   The biggest thing I’ve learned so far, is that people are willing to help you and they WANT to help you! In fact, most people enjoy helping you, it makes them feel good about themselves! But even if it doesn’t, don’t be afraid to ask for help! I wouldn’t be able to get by without my family and friends
6. Don’t wait for good things to happen, go and make them happen!
7. Don’t be afraid to be weird – seriously, embrace it!
   (See picture of me as a minion)
   You deserve to do what you love, and you deserve to be happy! Scream from the top of mountains, go dancing on the beach, stand up in a car so your head is poking out of the sunroof and outstretch your arms and feel the wind in your hair! Do crazy things! Wear clothes that don’t match! Get a tattoo with your friends! Dye your hair that color that you’ve been putting off forever!
8. Take time to love yourself! I know this is so cliché, but what can I do? It’s February, and my least favorite holiday is coming up (Yup, Valentine’s Day… ugh, will be posting my hatred over this holiday soon). So before you bend over backwards for other people, buy some chocolates for yourself, go to the garden center and get some flowers, light a candle, make some tea, make some time to just sit in your room and waste time! If you need a mental health day, take it!
9. Good things take time, so be patient 🙂
10. Take the time to celebrate small victories 🙂
11. Spend more time with your family!
    I remember one of the best but saddest things I’ve ever heard was: “Don’t be so busy growing up that you forget your parents are growing old too” and that pretty much destroys me every day so yeah, you’re welcome.
12. Enjoy your own company.
    Doing things by yourself is actually lots of fun! Sitting in a coffee shop and studying, eating at a restaurant, putting your phone away and going for a walk – it’s actually really nice.
13. Drink more water!! This is more for me, not so much you guys, but I definitely need to drink more water when I’m 24 and not make my blood 75% coffee.
14. Be proud! Brag about yourself!
15. Life is too short to be passive aggressive – so either be aggressive, or let it go
16. Look at everything as an opportunity to learn something!
    This is actually my favorite and should probably be higher up on the list. I LOVE talking to people who have a different background or career path than me because it’s so amazing to learn about other fields and get a view into how other people think! If I could, I would stay in school forever. In a different life, I’d be getting my medical degree, my masters in architecture, and my PhD in Economics… maybe someday 🙂
    Most of my friends hate the learning aspect of college, but I loved it. I loved all my professors and teachers and loved having them as mentors. I also loved being a TA! I think you can learn so much from your peers and from teaching other people!
    (Can you tell I am passionate about education?)
17. Life is a sine curve (Courtesy of Michael on that one!)
18. If you’re nervous about something, then bring a buddy 🙂 So if you’re nervous for an interview, then (well obviously don’t bring your friend into the interview) bring your friend and they’ll hang out in the coffee shop across the street and you can meet them afterwards 🙂
19. Take your time! Choose wisely!
    Again, another one for me. Whenever I’m at a restaurant or a coffee shop I’ve never been to before, I panic and I stress-order something that I don’t even want, and then I regret it. So, take your time, ask questions!
20. Be passionate! I care way tooo much about everything, and some of my friends hate me for it. And even my family points out that sometimes my responses are very emotion-heavy… but you know what, I love being passionate. I love caring way too much about things! So…
21. Trust yourself, and trust the process
    “Everyone wants a perfect ending. But over the years, I’ve learned that some of the best poems don’t rhyme, and many great stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle or end. Life is about not knowing everything, embracing change, and taking a moment to make the best of what you’ve been given without knowing what’s going to happen next” (Courtesy of Tumblr)
22. Create a space you like to be in! I love color coordinating my decorations and desk accessories! It gives the illusion of productivity to be honest, but even more than that, it makes me want to work and do well! (Recall my love declaration for studyblrs… that hasn’t changed)
23. Read more! My friends and I made a book club
    (even though it’s more intermittent than ever… come on guys!
    Update: we’re meeting in 2 weeks!!)
    and I love reading books that I wouldn’t ordinarily read!!
24. Love unconditionally 🙂
    One of my favorite quotes from How I Met Your Mother is in Season 9, when Ted is talking about love with Jeanette.

    Jeanette: “You’re crazy! You’re worse than crazy! I don’t think there’s a word for what that is!”
    Ted: “Actually, there is a word for that. It’s love. … If you’re looking for the word that means caring about someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want no matter how much it destroys you, it’s love. And when you love someone you just, you…you don’t stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy. Even then. Especially then. You just- you don’t give up because if I could give up… If I could just, you know, take the whole world’s advice and- and move on and find someone else, that wouldn’t be love. That would be… That would be some other disposable thing that is not worth fighting for. But that is not what this is.”

And more on that, my favorite interaction on Tumblr is the following

“Don’t cross oceans for people who wouldn’t cross a puddle for you”
“No, do it. Do cross oceans for people. Love people, all people. No conditions attached, no wondering whether or not they’re worthy. Cross oceans, climb mountains. Life and love isn’t about what you gain, its’ about what you give.”

Love others unconditionally and love yourself unconditionally too. You deserve the best, give yourself the best
So one of my friends asked me, “Are you excited for 24?” … Excited, I’m not sure, but I’m ready for it 😊

Thank you all for reading this list, I know it was a long one! 😊 I hope that I can keep writing blog posts that you read in the future! ❤

Be sure to comment below on any other advice or life lessons that you have that I may have missed!! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

xo

Sandhya

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