What I learnt in my 18th year...

A composition of everything I discovered while being 18.

I've learnt that most things change with time. People, the skin on your face, and your own ability to grow comfortable in situations that once seemed like the most foreign, scary things on earth. I've learnt that enough time will make you miss even the things you hated so you should love everything while you have it within your reach.  I've learnt that this is hard. I now know that happiness is in every second but it's hard to hear the song while it’s being sung. I’ve learned to be a better listener instead of hitting replay. 

I now know what it feels like to be in love, to be infatuated, and to be lustful. I now know that feelings change quickly. I’ve been taught that affection doesn't have to be complicated and that I have the ability to feel pleasure.

 I've learnt I can never make promises when I'm happy. I've come to understand the true weight of the statement 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger', it was scary. I've learnt that being scared is a good thing. 

I've come to know a lot about people. I've learnt that anger in a person is often just muffled sadness. And most people are sad. I've learnt that there are people in this world who you can connect with on a level far above most others, but even this won't be enough. A good friend taught me that you will never like a person 100%, but you may still love that person with your entire being. This I am still learning.  

I've learnt that making a child smile feels better than most things, and I've learnt about the importance of place in the role of one’s happiness. 

I've learnt that you truly will get back whatever you put in and that this can be the best and the worst of truths. 

I've learnt that what I want, who I want and when I want it changes every second so I should never let my desires get the better of me. 

I've learnt that tea tastes better with honey than with sugar. 

I've learnt that my childhood has truly come to a close. I've learnt that it was incredible and that my parents have blessed me with a life that makes me forever indebted to them. 

I've learnt that you should always say what you're feeling, something good is bound to come from it, even if it’s just the truth. 

I've discovered that we are all a lot more similar to one another than we think. We all worry about the same things, think similar thoughts, and share most of the same problems. And I've learnt that this can make me feel boring and commonplace, but then I learnt to laugh and love this fact because this makes life feel simpler, easier and less foreboding.    

 

I've learnt that it can take the longest time to get absolutely nothing done. So I now know that it's going to take a lot more than free time to achieve anything worthwhile. I'm still searching for what this is. 

This year I've felt loneliness in the depth of my being and learnt that company is rarely the cure. 

I've learnt that I'm stronger than I believe, and capable of much more than I ever thought. That I'm adaptable, and that the boundaries I had placed around myself truly were just imaginary. I've learnt how good it feels to step over those lines even if they weren't really there in the first place.           

I've learnt that letting go of the people you love is one of the harder things in life, and even harder is convincing yourself that time won't change those relationships, because we know they will. With every goodbye I learnt.