Life Lesson(s) aka My Various Mantras

"Life's a Lesson: What is the single most important lesson you have ever had?"

I'm not very good at choosing one thing when it comes to a question like this. I'm sure that if I pick one, I'll feel really good about it at the time, but by the next day I'll be all..."wait, this is what I should have talked about instead! -_-"

Which is too bad...because I really want to pick one and be really thought-provoking...but instead, here are a couple mantras all kind of tied together that I like to remember when life's getting a little sticky or when I'm feeling a little down.

1. My real life isn't going to begin sometime in the future, my real life is right now. - When I was younger, I read so many stories about teens and young adults having amazing adventures in all my favorite books, and I thought, "When I'm in high school, that will happen to me." And a lot of stuff did, but I thought there was more. Then later, "When I'm in college, that will happen to me." And a lot of stuff did, but I became more aware of my limitations and thought, "When I'm a real grown up, maybe..."

Well, I'm starting to figure out that there will always be obstacles whenever and wherever I am in life, and so I'm trying to make good on these "young years" now and less like I'm waiting for real life to begin.

2. Along the same lines, I try to Feel Beautiful Now, because I'll look back many years from now (when my life is started ;) and feel like these are my "prime years". A long time ago one of my friends was raving about a picture of her mom when she was about 19-20ish (about our age at the time). We were in awe of how beautiful she looked, and the picture had all the glam sepia quality that pictures back then all seem to have. I forget exactly how the idea came about, but basically I was left with the idea that I shouldn't waste these years feeling ugly or awkward-looking...I'm beautiful and I should appreciate it! Obviously I don't feel beautiful every every day, finding something to fuss over (like my hair or weight or something else), but I'm definitely not waiting around to become a more developed-looking creature.

This kind of goes for how I feel inside too...like trying to be less critical of whether I'm awkward or not, and just trying to be more confident in my interactions in social situations. I'm sure a lot of this has to do with the reality that I'm getting older and feeling more confident, but I can also attribute it to this idea of feeling beautiful now :)

3. And finally, Dreams and goals aren't silly if they mean something to you and you're willing to work hard for them.

(Via quotepictures.com)

It's hard after college and all your friends are in different places, geographically and in their lives. Every day I hear of successes and confusions, of reaching milestones and of abandoning dreams, and I just wish that everyone could do well and know where and how they will find their happiness. For me, despite all the twists and turns, I do believe that it's important to believe that I will, or I am, fulfilling my dreams...things like, making a difference, or impacting the community, or making the world a better place. I know it's corny, but I feel like believing in oneself does have an impact upon whether it's possible and making it happen (I think the academic term is self-efficacy.).

That's all for now, considering that this post is already late in my time zone (meaning in almost all other parts of the world it's super late). But I will be thinking more about how these life lessons and related lessons have impacted my life and whether I totally missed the mark and forgot something major. I do feel good about these though :) 

What are your life mantras? Can you answer the question, "What is the single most important lesson you've ever had?" in a more succinct and straightforward way than I seem to be capable of?