Forgiving Others

The good news is, you won’t be the only person who will be saying “sorry” more often. I’ve found that the older I get, the harder it is to hold on to grudges or stay angry at people, especially if they apologize and own what they did. Which means it’s easier for me to forgive people. 

No matter what kind of relationships you have – friends, family, coworkers, significant others – learning to forgive someone will make your relationship much stronger and more fulfilling. It will be easier for you to trust someone, and for them to trust you, knowing that the relationship is a safe space for both of you to make mistakes. 

Of course, that’s not to say you have to forgive everyone for everything. Establishing boundaries and knowing yourself is a huge part of getting older, too. Which brings me to my next point…

Standing Up For Yourself

I have never been the kind of person to shy away from standing up for myself, but there were definitely situations I think back on, either in college or early in my career, where I wish I had taken a stronger stance for myself. In those situations, I think I didn’t stand up for myself more because I was afraid of being perceived as a bitch or I didn’t have enough experience to know that the situation wasn’t right. 

Standing up for yourself can be very hard, especially when you don’t know what the repercussions of doing so will be, but the older you get, the easier it is to take on that risk. It’s not the end of the world now if someone doesn’t like me – especially if the reason they don’t like me is because I stood up for something I believe in, or because I stood hard at my boundaries. 

In fact, I’ve found that most people will respect you more for standing up for yourself or making your needs known. And, if they have a problem with it, that’s okay too – because if they can’t respect you and what you need, you don’t need to make them a priority in your life.