Things every 20-something should know

I'm 22 years old and on my fourth month now of post-grad. And these are some things that I think every 20-something needs to know. One, be selective about who gets access to you. Not everybody deserves the same version of you. Reflect on how you feel after spending time with people. If they make you question yourself more than make you feel like yourself, they probably don't need to be in your life. Stop keeping around people just because you have history with them. Two, have the uncomfortable conversations. Say the thing, ask the question, set the boundary. Either way, you can't avoid the uncomfortable, so you might as well get comfortable in the uncomfortable. Three, your 20s are supposed to look a little messy. You may have people around you that have made a lot of life decisions that you think come a little bit later in life, like getting married or having kids. They're not on your timeline. You are not on their timeline. You have to start living for yourself instead of feeling like you're being left behind. Four, the right decision can still hurt. I know, we don't want to make those decisions that we know are going to hurt us, but when you start to realize there's actually more long-term benefit than there is for your temporary heightened emotions, your life will get a lot more happy. And by the way, you can absolutely still miss somebody, whether that be a friend, a guy, a girl, whatever it is in your case, and know that they're not meant to be for your life. I actually think there's a lot of power in being able to understand that and still walk away. Five, learn to tolerate being misunderstood. I know I've been disappointed over and over again when somebody is not understanding my intentions or not wanting to. When you start to understand that they literally won't because they don't want to, is when your life will just get a lot more peaceful. And honestly, just get a lot more peaceful. And my last one, and I honestly kind of feel like this might be the most important up to this point, is that some of your biggest opportunities will come disguised as huge inconveniences. You have that bad meeting, you lose that friend, you need to understand that those things, while they may be huge inconveniences for your life, are door closing and other doors are opening. Once you start understanding that, your life just gets a lot more peaceful. And honestly, just get a lot more peaceful.