An ode to the 2010s

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

The 2010s was everything a girl could wish for, I felt the whole spectrum of human emotion. The purpose of being alive is it experience all of it — the wins and losses, celebrations and challenges, and the good with the bad.

There were so many dark periods, where I dealt with depression, days where I just lied in bed and felt the physical pain of not being able to drag myself through what I thought was an emotional wasteland ahead of me. There were times that I took my family for granted or thought negatively and meanly about people who did not deserve it. The relationships that I lost a part of myself to, who showed me time and time again how little I meant to them, and enabling that behavior reduced me to someone who didn’t believe she was worthy.

But through darkness comes light, through fear comes love, through pain comes triumph, and being able to push the edge of human emotion has made my life much richer. Without experiencing the depths of the darkness, I wouldn’t be able to able to fully appreciate the highs of hope and love. I am the sum of all my experiences, and only with my unique perspective, am I able to reach deep within myself and understand who I really was, and find the strength to create the life that I wanted. Not a girl defined by depression, her emotional baggage, but now a woman who is mostly happy (I still have my moments!) and a lot to be grateful for.

In my 2010s, I became more generous with showing gratitude, and readily reminded people how much I cared about and loved them. As a result, I am closer to my siblings than ever and have more intimate and meaningful relationships than I deserve. For the first time, I set the intention that I wanted to live my life being kind, whether it was to put my family’s needs above my own or smiling at strangers who craved it the most. The fulfillment I get from being generous with my actions is incomparable to any other form of achievement. Finally, I learned that managing my expectations is the key to being in control of my happiness. I can’t control how other people act, and sometimes life will be unfair, but I can control how I process those emotions and how I choose to respond. And never associate negative people or negative events as a reflection of my self-worth!

Over the past 10 years, I graduated uni, started work, moved from Melbourne to Sydney, and pursued my dream of living in New York City! I completed business school, which was a rollercoaster. I witnessed my best friends get married, and my parents grow old. I am really enjoying my new job, as well as my new BK apartment. I traveled all across the world, from Tokyo to Bolivia to Paris, which all broadened my perspective and introduced me to how other people lived.

Most of all, I have loved all my small moments, where my life was actually peaking. All the times I hosted my friends for dinner, feeling the sand on my feet, the unnecessarily competitive races up a walkup apartment with my (ex)boyfriend. Cuddles with dogs, laughing too long at jokes that only my siblings and I would find funny, fresh flowers, and basking in the afternoon sun. These are the moments that I live for.

Here’s looking forward to the next decade, of more happiness, more health, more confidence, and more small, everyday moments that are larger than life.

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