Healing and Growth
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We Were Taught to Respect Our Elders Before We Were Taught to Respect Ourselves
Another 3 AM thought from a 30-something who’s still figuring out boundaries, people-pleasing, and this whole adulthood thing. Growing up as a millennial, I remember hearing one particular phrase over and over again. “Respect your elders.” And with that came a whole list of unwritten rules. Be polite. Don’t talk back. Don’t question adults. Don’t make a scene. Keep the peace. And whatever you do, don’t be disrespectful. We were taught to respect our parents, teachers, bosses, and pretty much anyone older than us. But somewhere along the way, I think we missed an important lesson. What about respecting ourselves? When Did Respect Become Staying Quiet? I don’t think teaching…
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I Lost Pieces of Myself, but I’m Slowly Rebuilding 💜
Sometimes starting over isn’t about getting your old life back. It’s about discovering who you’re becoming. I’ve been thinking about how much my life has changed over the years. And honestly? Sometimes I barely recognize the person I used to be. There were moments when I felt like I had lost so much. My confidence. My motivation. My sense of direction. Even parts of my creativity that once made me feel like myself. Between anxiety, grief, mental health struggles, mistakes, and unexpected setbacks, there were times when I wondered if I’d ever feel like me again. And the hardest part? Life doesn’t exactly come with a reset button. Believe me,…
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I’m Learning to Make Myself Proud Instead of Everyone Else 💜
Because maybe I don’t need everyone else’s approval to feel like I’m doing enough. Can I admit something? I’ve spent a lot of my life worrying about making other people proud. My parents. My boss. People online. Even complete strangers who probably don’t think twice about me. 🙃 And somewhere along the way, I started measuring my worth by how other people saw me. If someone complimented me, I felt good. If someone seemed disappointed, I immediately wondered what I’d done wrong. But here’s something I’ve been asking myself lately. When was the last time I actually felt proud of myself? Not because someone told me I did a good…
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“You can do anything—but not everything.”
“You can do anything—but not everything.” Honestly, I think a lot of us forget that. We try to be the strong one, the dependable one, the fixer, the helper, the person who always says yes. We stretch ourselves so thin trying to prove we care that we forget we’re human too. Lately I’ve been realizing that exhaustion is not proof of kindness. One of my coworkers said something that stuck with me:“You can’t always be the hero. They can still count on you if you say no once.” And maybe that’s what healing looks like sometimes. Not becoming cold.Not stopping caring.Just learning that being a good person does not require…
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Remember When Our Biggest Worries Were So Simple? 💜
We wanted to grow up so badly. Nobody warned us about bills, burnout, and having to figure out dinner every single night. Remember when our biggest worries were whether Mom would let us stay home from school? Or whether we’d finish our homework before our favorite TV show came on? Maybe it was deciding whether to spend our allowance on candy, a new CD, or something from the mall. And remember when getting grounded and losing TV privileges felt like the end of the world? Seriously, we had no idea what was coming. 😂 As a ‘90s kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up. No bedtime. No homework. No parents telling…
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🌷 Maybe Self-Love Isn’t About Who We Thought We’d Become…
Growing up, we all had this picture of who we’d be by a certain age. The career. The relationship. The house. The happiness. The life we thought we’d have figured out by 30. But somewhere along the way, life happened. Plans changed. Dreams shifted. We lost parts of ourselves we thought we’d always have. And sometimes, we find ourselves grieving the person we thought we’d become. 💗 But maybe self-love isn’t about becoming the person we thought we’d be. Maybe it’s about learning to love the person we’re becoming, even when life didn’t go according to plan. Maybe it’s about forgiving ourselves for the milestones we haven’t reached, the mistakes…
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Dear Me, Remember Why You Started 💜
Sometimes the person giving everyone else gentle reminders needs one, too. Dear Me, I think you need a little reminder. Somewhere between creating websites, designing my Cozy Critters, writing blog posts, making journals, and trying to grow my little creative business, I started getting caught up in something. The numbers. The views. The followers. The sales. Wondering if anyone was actually reading what I wrote or connecting with the things I created. And honestly? Sometimes it gets discouraging. You spend hours creating something meaningful, put it out into the world, and wonder if anyone even notices. But then I have to remind myself… That’s not why I started. I didn’t…
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Just Because I Look Okay Doesn’t Mean My Mind Is Quiet
What I wish people understood about living with anxiety, overthinking, and the exhaustion nobody sees. There’s something I’ve been wanting to get off my chest. Just because I can function doesn’t mean I’m always okay. I go to work. I smile at customers. I take care of responsibilities. I laugh, joke around, and do all the normal adult things I’m supposed to do. But what people don’t always see is how much is going on inside my head. My brain doesn’t exactly come with an off switch. Trust me, I’ve looked for one. 😂 I replay conversations from hours ago. I worry about mistakes that probably aren’t even a big…
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I’m 30, Still Figuring Life Out, and Sometimes I Feel Behind
Watching everyone else move forward while I’m still trying to find my own way. I’m going to admit something I struggle with more than I’d like. Thanks for reading 30somethingandstillfiguringitout! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. I’m 30, and sometimes I feel like I’m falling behind in life. I look around and see people I went to school with getting married, having kids, buying houses, and settling into careers. Meanwhile, I’m over here still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. 😂 I work in retail, I’m building my own creative business, and I have about a million ideas…