At 25.

At 25...

The day is here, September 18th, today I am turning 26!

It seems like just yesterday I was packing my bags to travel to NYC and Chicago for my 25th birthday; well that was exactly a year ago today. Time has flown-by incredibly fast, but I'm sure this is the millionth time you've heard that this year. To honor the incredible year I leave behind me I'd like to reflect-on and share a few of the things I learned on the way... 

At 25 I learned I have a whole life-time ahead of me, I learned no one actually feels like a grown up at this age, and no one has their sh*t together, at least I don't, and I'm okay with that!  

I learned I have absolutely zero control over people's actions, however I posses full control of how I'm going to react to those actions.  

At 25 I took care of myself, I meal prepped, I respected myself and walked away from those who didn't contribute to my personal growth.

At 25 I learned I'm allergic to cats and four different types of grass.

I realized I'm a sensitive guy, and also very intuitive, I can see right through people without even exchanging words, I learned to trust my gut feeling, it usually never fails... 

I became obsessed with buying scented candles for my room, and finding pleasure in the small things in life. 

At 25 I felt lost at some point, but somehow found my way.  

At 25 I learned to forgive, even those times when I was never offered an apology.  

At some point I had to work a second job for about 5 months, and still manage to create content and feed my dreams and aspirations, I learned I can make time for anything if I really want to. I learned about hard work and how it pays off.   

At 25 I lost my grandfather, shortly after thanksgiving, I experienced the most profound pain of all my life. I LEARNED HOW HORRIBLE IT IS TO LOVE SOMETHING DEATH CAN TOUCH... 

But also, at 25 I allowed myself to love harder, harder than any pain I've ever felt...

At some point in the year, my "friends" were nowhere to be found, I did not feel like I received enough support from my loved ones, now thanks to that I learned the biggest lesson one can learn, I WAS ME BEFORE ANY OF MY FRIENDS CAME INTO MY LIFE. I learned I do not need anyone's validation but my own, I am ANDRES whether "Jane" or "Joe" decide to stay in my life or not.

At 25 I realized when someone wants to text you, or check on you somehow they simply will, then I stopped making excuses for people. 

I started exfoliating about twice a week and sometimes showering three times a day, I love feeling clean.        

There were days in which I didn't want to get out of bed, other days I didn't feel like I wanted to sleep at all.

I learned to be completely cut open, and socialize, talk more to strangers, I learned the power of complementing someone and how it can change their day for the better. I like that feeling...

At 25 I had romantic picnics by the beach at night, and stargazed for hours.  

I learned I can't let someone's opinion dictate how i'm going to see myself or how my day is going to go. 

At 25 I bought random gifts for my partner, family members and friends just because.

At 25 I started living for me, making my own decisions, being my own person, questioning the reasons why... I took control, and never felt so good about myself!

This past year I learned that life truly opens up when you do...

Today that I turn 26 I feel more ready than ever to embrace new life experiences, new ups and downs, to keep growing, to work more on myself, on my dreams and hopes, but most of all to keep learning, this is only the beginning...       

Disclaimer: Let me just say I am incredibly happy to be sitting in front of my computer at work, yes! I am writing this from work because as you all know Naples got hit by hurricane Irma pretty badly and today, Friday Sept 15th, 5 days after the storm is the first chance I get to sit down in front of a monitor that actually has internet connection.