28 Goals and Lessons From (Almost) 28 Years

1. If you need a fresh perspective on life, talk to the youngest person you know.  3-year-olds work best for this.  No one sees the world with more truth and humor than they do.

2. Your mental health comes first.  It affects everything else in your life.

3. If it won’t cost you your life, your friends or family, or your job, close enough is good enough.

4. Monsters Inc or Miralax at the first sign of a problem!  It can get so much worse!

5. Remember the days when she was your lap kitty and you were her mattress when she becomes a teenager.  That foundation of love will never change, it just might be obscured.

6. Instilling a bed-time does wonders for insomnia!

7. It’s not worth the drama.  Just defriend and move on.  Life is too short to be wasted on dramatic spam.

8. If the toddler tells you the call on his play phone is for you, you answer it.  Nothing is more important.  This applies to many things!

9. If given a choice, choose to be the cool parent.  But be this because of being supportive and understanding, not an enabling doormat.

10. Remember always that you can get by without debt.  Unless it’s for school, a home, or maybe a car, it’s not worth it.

11. The Band.  Never leave The Band.  Follow it wherever it takes you!  They are good people doing amazing things with much more wow to come!

12. In addition, never leave your own blog.  You really are helping people!  Even if it has to mature and grow with you, your target audience will find it’s worth.

13. This feeling right now of, “Yes I’m big but I’ve had 3 babies and a decade plus of psyche meds!” will never stop being true, so don’t lose that feeling.

14. Never second guess a sign that your child needs help.  It’s much better to be wrong and they don’t than to be wrong and they do.

15. Stick with Pat.  No matter how bad things get, they have been worse and you’ve seen the awesome.  Remember the awesome.

16. Keep this job unless the next is remarkably better.  Only a degree can truly end the search and maybe not even then.

17. Buddhism.  Don’t give up the search to understand and give yourself the option to worship in its natural setting.  It might be the answer, and if it’s not, it still won’t be a waste of time.

18. Get a degree.  Business. Maths.  Psychology.  Pick one, but make it good!  And not photography!  There is no time, money, or future for that!

19. Open a savings account NOW!  Even if it’s just an automatic deposit of 5$ a week for now.  House.  College.  Oh shit.  But make sure it’s only being spent on 1 of the 3.

20. Do better with her.  She deserves it.  Then let her teach you how to do better with the boys.  It shouldn’t be so different and they deserve it too!

21. Twice a week.  Not because you have to, but because you want to.  If you don’t want to, then it’s time to fix the problem.

22. Give each kid 30 minutes of your undivided, individual attention every day.  But that doesn’t mean you get to ignore them the other 22.5 hours each day.  They just have to share that time with the rest of life and each other.

23. Stop picking!  You are in the best mental health of your life and you don’t need this habit!  Besides, you look gross!

24. Sick days are done.  Unless you literally can not leave the bathroom or the hospital you must always be at work as scheduled.  You had that discipline before and lost it to depression.  Well, you aren’t depressed so get it back!

25. Never underestimate the power of a bra that fits, well-worn jeans, and the pants free, yet public appropriateness of a skirt.

26. No matter how broke you are, having some fun money is important.  You just have to set a reasonable limit.  You work way to hard to not enjoy at least some of the reward.

27. Yes, people really can change.  But only if they honestly want to and you have no say in any of this.  Remember this for your own ways as well.  If you don’t honestly want to make the change, you won’t.

28. You only get in return what you put into it.  There is NOTHING this doesn’t apply to!

6 thoughts on “28 Goals and Lessons From (Almost) 28 Years

  1. I need to print this out and carry it with me as a reminder. Gift Idea: Print it on very pretty paper and frame it for me. For serious.

  2. I love this list! My very favorite one if I had to choose is number 27. This os so true!
    Thanks for sharing your life and your thoughts with us!
    Looking forward to reading more.
    Jenna

  3. I think this is in the top 5 favorite things I've written to date. And honestly, I think most of the top 5-10 have been in the last few months. Granted I have some funny older ones and stuff. But as far as the to the core stuff, most of my favorites have been recent. I'm in a good place and a philosophical place. I'm grateful for where my life is and looking into where it's going. I have the family I want and it finally feels complete. I have a job I feel proud to have, and unless it turns out to be a total shit hole, I think I'll be really happy with it. But most tellers I talk to love their job and from what I've seen, the company is a good one. I'm really enjoying this exact place in my life.

    Thank you for being here, Jenna. I write my life whether it's read or not, but I am honored to have people read it. And I look forward to writing more and having it read too.

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