Because the minute I turned 20, a journey of a sort of transformation of awareness began. This transformation continues to accompany me today, almost two years later. A lot of truths began uncovering themselves. A lot of wake-up calls crept up on me. Awareness felt like a rollercoaster of ups and downs, and an abundance of lessons threw themselves at me and said “Here, you have some growing up to do, and the ONLY road is the tough road.”

This brings me to:

Lesson number 1:
Mistakes are essential for your growth

No matter how much someone might advise you about a certain life lesson or try to teach you about it, there is absolutely nothing quite like learning it yourself, through your own mistakes. Like not taking that jacket on a windy night when your mom specifically told you to. And this time, it’s not a jacket. It’s a lot more painful. That’s just the way it is. It is essential to make mistakes, to self-reflect, and to come to the conclusion yourself, through your own experiences.

Lesson number 2:
You cannot reach your fullest potential if your own company is never enough for you.

How do you expect to ever know yourself if you don’t make time for yourself? You need to make sure you know how to spend time alone AND how to be single. If you’re in a happy and healthy relationship, that’s great. But if it ends, do NOT try to deal with it by jumping into another relationship. The period of time after your relationship ends is GOLDEN!Discover your hidden talents, explore new activities and subjects, read, watch movies, spend a day at the beach alone, research things that interest you, make art, practice meditation.

Lesson number 3:
The art of letting go with no regrets. You don’t lose, you either win or you grow.

Being stuck in the past and regretting things you can’t control is an ILLUSION that is trying to distract you from the only thing that you can control; the present moment. Not every single person we meet is meant to stay in our lives forever. Accept when it is time to let them go. Don’t regret or feel like you should’ve never let them in in the first place. They were there for a reason, and whether you acknowledge it or not, they changed you for the better in one way or another. When it is their time to leave, gracefully let them go and make way for new people and lessons to come in.

Lesson number 4:
You and only you, are the one who is in charge of getting yourself that thing you sit around wishing and hoping for… And it won’t be easy or quick.

Many of us spend so much of our time envisioning, wishing for, and dreaming about the things that we want. The perfectly fit body, the outstanding achievements, the dream job, and so on. We spend so much of our time fantasizing that we don’t even acknowledge the fact that nobody is going to do it for us. You want to become an artist, you have to spend hours over hours over hours working alone, you have to endure many disappointments and errors, you have to doubt yourself a million times.

Lesson number 5:
Question everything and recognize that you don’t truly know anything.

Getting older means thinking for yourself, really questioning everything that you’ve ever been taught, reflecting, analyzing, learning, and coming to conclusions on your very own. Open up your mind to every possible perspective that comes your way, acknowledge that there is no one true perspective, expand your horizons. If you focus all your energy on one thing, you’ll miss out on the endless possibilities. Transcend.

Ghina could have written an entire book when it comes down to it, but for now, she will leave it at 5. How about you add one to the list? What could be the one lesson you have learned over the years, that you could probably give it as an advice to someone else?

Share with us your input in the comments section below for a chance to win 2 vouchers at Nine O’Eight for $20 each, because let’s face it, if we have learned one thing, it’s that summer is all we need.