Clouded Thoughts

For a while now I have had an urge to write and start this blog space where I can share my random thoughts and photos I take but have pushed it off for about 2 years out of anxiety and fear of feeling like it wouldn’t be good enough for others to enjoy. But either way I figured it would be a nice space for me to collect my thoughts, memories, and pictures I am proud of for my own personal look back purposes. My hope is that along the way, I am able to provide joy, comfort, perspective, and connection to whoever may need it. 

When it came to what I would write and post about first, I felt I owed it to myself to start with this list of life lessons I have learned in my years as a human on this floating rock. I first had the idea to do a blog site like this about 2 years ago, right before I was about to turn 30. My first idea on what to write about was to make a list of 30 things I have learned so far in my 30 years of life. Since I am about to turn 32 now it seemed appropriate to do 32 instead. I won’t lie to you and say I follow every single one of these every single day, but nonetheless they are still lessons I have learned along my way and ones that have had an impact on my way of thinking overall. I hope you are able to find some ideas that also resonate with your life.

1. No one is thinking about you as much as you think they are. Now I don’t mean this in a harsh way, this is coming from someone who overthinks every little action they’ve ever done- sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we aren’t the star of everyone’s life and they probably aren’t thinking twice about that weird thing you did.
2. Drink More Water. It’s such a simple fix you can do to help improve how you feel on a daily basis. 
3. Family is who you choose it to be. Blood does not equal being family. Family is who you choose to love and who loves you back.
4. You are allowed to cut anyone you want out of your life if they are not adding to the quality of your life. You are allowed to cut cords with people who aren’t adding quality and joy to your life, no matter their relation to you. Your environment has a huge impact on your mental health, and that includes the people in your environment. 
5. Travel. As much as you can, as often as you can. Traveling doesn’t need to be luxurious or far, do what you can though to see other places than what you are used to. 
6. Meet people who don’t think like you. It’s so important for us to learn from one another and to see things from other people’s perspectives. Your way of doing things isn’t the only way and perspective helps us learn and grow and adapt as people.
7. Always be willing to learn and expand your mind. The wold becomes such a bigger and more magical place when you are willing to open your mind and challenge the way you are use to thinking and seeing things. 
8. It’s okay to change your beliefs. You don’t have to stick to the same beliefs or way of thinking you were taught or grew up with. Part of growing up is taking what we learned and adding that with our own life experience and making our own beliefs out of it. We are not meant to only think the way we are taught, it’s more of a guideline to help you figure out your own way.
9. Admit when you are wrong. This one is not always easy and feels uncomfortable to do, but it goes a long way and says a lot about a person’s character. 
10. Don’t lend money to people that you need back right away. No matter who the relation is to you, if you don’t have the money to lend, it’s okay to say no. I personally find a good rule of lending money to be only lend the money if you are financially okay if you never see it again.
11. It’s okay to suck at something new you are trying. In fact, it’s to be expected. Most people aren’t automatically perfect at everything they do. Keep practicing. It’s also okay to start something new and realize you don’t enjoy it like you thought and move on to something new. (As a perfectionist, I struggle with this a lot)
12. Get a pet. Animals have a special energy about them that just makes life a little better. It’s a nice lesson to learn a little responsibility too. Do NOT get a pet though if you have no intentions on keeping them forever. 
13. Real friends will call you out. True friends will call you out on your bullshit and let you know when you are wrong. We may not always like that, but it’s what we need. 
14. Your job does not define you. A job is a job. Your work does not define your value or worth. It takes a lot of crappy jobs sometimes to end up at the one you’re suppose to be. Any job you have that can pay your bills is a good job to have.
15. Get some hobbies. It’s good for the mind and soul to have things we just do because we enjoy doing them. 
16. Everyone is fighting a battle you don’t know. Sometimes we just need to cut people some slack and give them the benefit of the doubt. We never know how much someone is doing everything they can just to keep it together at any given moment. While it doesn’t always justify our actions, that attitude you recieved from a stranger could be the result of somone having the worst day of their life- the kindest you show people during these times can have a ripple affect in that persons life.
17. Welcome the unexpected change. Change often can be uncomfortable which leads us to resisting it. Unexpected change is typically out of our control when it happens, and usually it’s setting up the scene for something better.
18. Move and Stretch your body. Go on a walk, exercise, anything. Just get out there and continue moving your body in any way you can. Stretch everyday if you’re able too. Your body will thank you years later. 
19. Healing and self-care is not instant. In a world that’s so online with social media and streaming, it gives the false impression that healing is more instant that it is- that all the sudden you will go from bad to good. Self care is a long and uncomfortable process often, especially if coming out of a dark period. It takes time and the good and bad days will fluctuate. 
20. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow is not promised. Don’t wait until the “time is right” to do what you want to do. You don’t want to live your whole life and look back with regret. 
21. Spend time in nature. Tree’s are pretty rad.
22. Learn how to cook. You don’t need to be a superstar chef or anything but you need to be able to cook yourself a few meals at least. With the internet there are so many ways to learn and get step-by-step recipes. 
23. Take social media breaks. It’s so easy to get stuck scrolling through videos day after day or to constantly compare yourself to everyone on there. This is something I do from time to time and it always does good for my mind.
24. Learn how to reuse or fix things before always buying a new one. Being a little more frugal is a more of a new lesson for me but we spend so much money on items we don’t need or to replace items that could easily be fixed with a little effort. 
25. Shop at thrift stores when you can. You’re not always going to leave with a bunch of things, but there are some good finds there. Our world is overfilled with so much goods already and it helps save you some money. 
26. Giving 100% of your effort does not look the same everyday. It’s easy to get in our heads that we aren’t doing enough. Life is hard and we don’t have the same effort to give. If all you had was the energy to complete one task today, even though yesterday you completed 10 tasks, you still gave 100% of what you had to give today. 
27. Learn how to communicate your feelings. It sounds simple but so many of us tend to push our feelings aside or want the other person to guess/just know how we are feeling and it leads to arguments that didn’t need to happen. 
28. People need other people. This life is hard and other people help us survive. It’s important to find community and give back to others when you are able. 
29. Don’t argue when you are hungry. Kind of a silly one but very true.
30. Music is a powerful and healing tool. Sometimes all you need is to put on some headphones and get lost in the music. 
31. “No” is a full sentence. You can’t pour from an empty cup, you have to put yourself first and if someone gets upset with you for it, then let them. 
32. Don’t be afraid to tell people “I love you” too much. None of us know when our time here will come to an end and you never know how much impact your words may have on someone. 

The list could go on for pages, but these are the main things that stuck out to me as I wrote this. I’m sure after sharing it I’ll think of 20 more things I wish I would’ve put instead, but ultimately life is impossible to summarize in just one post. I hope you found some ideas that have also resonated with you throughout your life and feel free to share any more lessons/advice that you hold close to your heart. I hope to see you all in the future and look forward to giving you a glimpse of the world through my perspective. 

With love and light,

Quinton