Turning 26 was really an “Omg I’m getting old,” moment. But it was also one of where I reflected back onto my life seeing how far I’ve came in the past 26 years. I found myself celebrating my birthday for weeks with people, whose only connection we had was partying, to only needing my closets family and friends to have a good time, in which I did. Looking at my life, I realized that there was so much I have yet to do for myself and accomplish. So I decided to write a list consisting of 26 things, both big and small, that I wanted to do during my 26th year. And I am happy to say during my half birthday, that I crossed off more than half off this list. I was dreading this year, but now looking at this list makes me so much more excited for the remainder half of this age.

Get My License
First let me start off by saying, I did not lose my license to reckless driving. I actually never received one at all. Go ahead and gasp. But, the why is pretty simple. I just never had the time. When I was in High School, I took Drivers Ed like every other sixteen year old. It was exciting until I had to take range and drive on a three-way street, which terrified me. Too many videos shown in class of the aftermath of crashes. Jitters and all, I did get my permit and was patiently waiting to turn that into my license. Going to the DMV, I’m sure anywhere, is a dread. So my permit ended up expiring. I wasn’t getting a car anytime soon, so I felt no rush in renewing my permit or taking the test over. I then went off to school. I attempted taking the test over again, which I always pass. But I never had my glasses for the seeing test or there was no one around with a car for me to use, in order to get my actual license. So there goes another few years. Next thing I know I’m 25 with no license and a fear to drive, that was instilled in me by everyone around me assuming I couldn’t drive, because I still didn’t have a license. I know, it’s all a headache.
do something to make my mom happy

3. Pay Off One Debt

4. Ceramic Class

I remember taking my first ceramics class in 6th grade when I went to camp. I loved it. And I loved it even more when I took it in High School. Working with art and art that requires me to work with my hands, has always been a soothing past time for me. I zone out into a world that is hard to explain, but it’s one where time does not exist. I’ve always loved it, so I was excited when I was able to find classes near my neighborhood. Now when I want to yell at the World, I can just take it out in my wheel throwing class.

5.Plant A Flower

6. Weight gain

7. Post on Thought Catalog

This was something I had been thinking about for a long time. For those of you who do not know, Thought Catalog is an online magazine where writers all over, new and experienced, write their own true life stories or submit their own creative works. Their mission is “to empower creative people by helping them realize their artistic visions on their own terms .” Reading many of the post on there myself, and seeing that even bloggers go off their own site and write there own stories, inspired me to want to submit my own writings. I highly suggest those, who have an interest in writing or just have a thought they would like to share with the World, to go ahead and check this sight out.

8. Scrapbooking

9. Fly out the country

10. Cook A New Meal

11. Start A New Habit

12. Break A Bad Habit

13. Start Therapy

We all have certain issues that we need to fix. I mean come on now, I survived the past quarter of my life, and it wasn’t easy at all. There were definitely some hiccups that landed me where I am today, and I am facing the consequences of my younger lifestyle. I am old enough now to admit that I might need counseling. And it doesn’t have to be laying down on a couch while someone jots notes and you wonder if this is really helping you. You can find counseling in reading the bible, talking to a pastor, a mentor, or even a friend. Whatever it may be to help you sort out the things that is stopping you from growing. For me, it was group counseling, talking with women who has been through similar situations like me and is ready to make a change. It was something that I was reluctant to do at first, but now that I am doing it, I can’t be more grateful. It has helped me see a lot of the negatives in my life that I wasn’t seeing and helping me identify those things that bring me into a place that I don’t care to be in. It may not be helpful to all, but for me, it was a blessing.

14. Spend A Day Without Phone

15. Do Something That Scares Me

16. Stop Reacting Negatively

My attitude can sometimes get the best of me. Hence, the reasoning for counseling. And during my sessions I’ve realized that most of the things I have dealt with, could have easily been avoided if I never put bad energy into it, if I had just walked away. This is probably one of the things on the list that I struggle with the most. But it is also something I don’t want to give up on. There are times where I can catch myself and control what I say or do, and I am proud that I can recognize those triggers. I still haven’t identified them all because I still have those days where I just go off in a tantrum. This will be a learning process that I will be going through for months, but I have the patience and the will to get through it.

17. Start A Savings

18. Make My Own Candle

19. Go To A Movie Alone

Surprisingly, this wasn’t as bad or scary as I thought it would be. Already having gone on lunches alone, and taking walks alone, I wondered why I had never done this before. I went to see a childhood favorite, which was also a movie no one else wanted to see. But it made it even more perfect. So on a Tuesday afternoon, I bought my ticket, grabbed my nachos and popcorn, and sat down at the top row to see Christopher Robin. And I loved it!

20. Create A Reading Bucketlist

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

Becoming by Renada William

I Hope This Reaches Her in Time by R.H.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

A Good Cry by Nikki Giovanni

She Would Be King by Wayetu Moore

Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

The Light We Last by Jill Santopolo

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

How Should A Person Be? by Sheila Heti

Well Read Black Girl by Glory Edim

Where the Crawdads Sing by Deila Owens

The Regulars by Georgia Clark

Brooklyn by Colm Torbin

The Girls by Emma Cline

21. Purge Pictures And Clothing

22. Say “NO”

This is probably one of my biggest issues to date. This should’ve been at number one. But it is hard for me to say no. I am a person who loves and cares for the people around me and would do anything for them. But sometimes I can agree to doing things that make me feel uneasy. Sometimes I feel like I am being taken advantage of, and sometimes I just don’t have the means to do so. In these situations, I feel like if I say no, I am hurting the person who it is for or letting them down. And that is not my intentions. During many talks with my parents, I had to learn that saying “No” to someone else is really saying “Yes” to me. It made it a little easier to deny people of the things they are wanting without the lingering guilt. Now, there will be those people that try to make you seem selfish but you have to let them know that you need to put yourself first sometimes before you can consider helping them. If they are not understanding of that, then it is time to LET THEM GO.

23. Make A New Friend

24. New Hairstyle

25. Send Letters To Loved Ones

I had received a book from a friend, Through the Eyes of Another by Karen Noe, who is a medium. She talks about her work with connecting family members to their passed loved ones and during that time thought about how they all felt they had unfinished business or their loved ones left without them being able to say how they really felt. It prose the question on why family members don’t find the time to say all those things to their loved ones before the pass on. As a experiment, she hosted a workshop where people would come in write letters to their loved ones and left it up to them if they wanted to send them off or not. A few days later, she received some amazing feed back from those who participated and because of that, she decided to do it on her own. She sent letters to her three kids, her ex husband, sister, and mother, who passed away sometime after receiving her letter. She talked about how it got things off her chest that she didn’t know she was holding on too and how it fixed some broken relationships. Reading that, made me think of how I wrote a letter for my grandmother after she left us. Even though it was everything she already knew, I wanted her to have that in writing. The only thing that was missing was her reading it herself. So I decided to write letters to my immediate family, while they are still here with me, letting them know just how much I truly love them.

Always Late To the Party | turning 26

Get My License

do something to make my mom happy