“When you get older, you learn certain life lessons. You apply that wisdom, and suddenly you say, ‘Hey, I’ve got a new lease on this thing. So let’s go.’ ” –  Robert Redford

It’s 1 : 32 PM on day 2018 of my journey towards independence and I managed to pray, read 1 John 3,  have breakfast, learn one new thing –Aaron Burr, Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was the third Vice President of the United States (1801–1805); he served during President Thomas Jefferson’s first term. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician.  –   have breakfast and work on my 25 Smiles Campaign – yesterday Reshma Ravi donated $30 and today  Wayne Mansfield of the Jindalee Foundation donated $50 (thanks so much Reshma and Wayne your ongoing support means the world to me : ) ) which brings the total raised to raised $3 562 only $2 688 more to raise by 10 Jan 2017  (SO SO SO GRATEFUL to everyone who has supported this campaign so far   ).

Today being the day before my 25^th birthday (I can’t believe I’m going to be a quarter-century young 🙂 ) I thought about and wrote down all the life lessons I’ve learned in my 24 years of life. Take a look:

Life Lessons Learned in 24 Years

1. Whatever you believe about yourself you become
2. The more grateful you are the more you’ll have to be grateful for (trust me, I’m experiencing this in my own life)
3. Everybody just wants to be heard and understood (even if you don’t agree with them)
4. Listen (if you’re always talking you never learn anything new because you already know what you know but you don’t know most of what other people know)
5. True joy and fulfilment comes from serving others without expectation of getting anything in return
6. The small things in life are the big things in disguise
7. You get what you give (whatever you put into the world you get back a hundredfold)
8. Be a trailblazer (if you’re walking your own path in life you don’t have to compete against anyone because there’s no one on your path)
9. Persistence and hard work pays (if you decide you will work hard for as long as it takes to achieve your goals you WILL NOT fail)
10. You are the company you keep (the people you surround yourself with will either push you to be greater than you ever thought possible or they will drag you down with them)
11. If you don’t believe in something greater than yourself you cannot do anything greater than yourself