Hello rockstars, 

It is time for my annual “oh my goddd, my birthday is coming up!!!” post. So I am cutting it kind of close here, but I will officially be 29 in 29 days. For reference, This post is the 8th in the birthday series! Check out my 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 posts here!

The end of my 20s… wow. Except for the first few months of 28, I actually really enjoyed it. I was trying to decide what to write for this post and how to even describe 28. I can’t decide if I want to say 28 things I’ve learned, 28 things I did, 29 things I want to do this year… I’m not sure.  The problem is that I still haven’t created goals for myself this year, because I’m still trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be. 

One of my friends last year told me that I’m one of the most “self-assured people he knows” and while that may be true because I know what my values are and I stick to them, and I try to be accountable when I mess up, and try to always be better… I am still trying to figure out what an “ideal” version of me looks like. I talk so much about being the favorite version of me – but I think that favorite version changes all the time. 

But you know what’s crazy?? I went through my 25 post, and I had a list of all the things I wanted to do by 30, and yes I still have another year to complete all of them but I was pleasantly surprised at all the ones I’ve completed. It’s like a vision board but with scripting.

One thing that I keep wrestling about, and literally had a conversation with one of my friends at work yesterday about, was how I tend to take the weight of the world on my shoulders (see my extremely vulnerable and emotionally intense post yesterday) and I need to get better at realizing that 1) I can’t solve everyone’s problems, and 2) It’s not my responsibility to. That’s something I struggle with a lot. But here’s the thing, I can try to become more stoic during 29 and I can try to put more boundaries in place, but I think at this point I need to just realize that this is me. So you know what, in 29, we’re going to lean into the Sandhya-ness. 

So, here are a list of guidelines/quotes/mantras I want to keep abiding by in 29 (for those of you who have been following me for a while, some of these might sound a bit familiar, but what can I say? Like my friend said, I’m pretty self-assured hehe)

My 29 Life Guidelines

1. Be unapologetically myself 
2. Do everything with compassion
3. Be brave (and be vulnerable)
4. Celebrate the mundane
5. Be kind
6. Be a fighter pilot (there’s a backstory here, the linked post explains it)
7. Keep up with meditation
8. Do more things for myself
9. Continue to be my favorite self
10. Let things go because most of the time, it’s not as bad as you think it is
11. Humans are complicated
12. Take baby steps
13. Do more things that inspire me, help me grow, and help me be better
14. Go on self-dates with coffee, flowers, museums
15. Keep an open perspective
16. Be prudent
17. Always be grateful and celebrate the small joys
18. Ask for help
19. Take action instead of sitting in the sidelines
20. Keep learning for fun (for example, I should take the architecture courses I’ve been wanting to take!)
21. Love unconditionally
22. Cross oceans for people (regardless of whether they would cross puddles for you)
23. Be proud of myself
24. Celebrate my small victories
25. Keep blogging!!
26. Keep the rose-colored glasses always and romanticize everything 
27. Be patient because sometimes the universe says “not this right now” 
28. Keep being the person that childhood me would have been proud of
29. Be Sandhya💖

How I’m going to celebrate my birthday

I wish I could say that I have some bombastic party planned for 29, but in all honesty, I don’t. It’s a Wednesday, so I’ll go to work and make some of my friends get coffee with me or take me to lunch, and then I’ll come home and celebrate with my roommate Sarah and with my parents. And maybe I’ll log off work at 6pm to give myself a little break. 

Basically I want life to keep pleasantly surprising me, to keep inspiring me, and I want to meet new people and have new experiences. Cheers to almost 29!

Until next time!

xo

Sandhya

If you missed me and want me to revive my blog post and/or podcast, or if you want to join me while I go through my 28th year around the sun, then please click the follow or subscribe button! Feel free to connect with me through this platform, twitter, my coffee and checkins Instagram, my podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or Amazon Music, or email me at coffeeandcheckins@gmail.com! If you have any suggestions for topics or anything you’d like me to write/speak about, please let me know🙂❤