After I finished my bachelor’s degree at 21, I came into some weird age gap that I am still in now, where I don’t know what to do, don’t really know where I am going, feel way too young to settle down and live to the same ‘social constructive lifestyle’ that most of my friends have, and at the same time I feel way too old to live an irresponsible life like I used to when I was 16/18.
It is exactly this feeling that makes me feel really unhappy from time to time. It feels like my future isn’t secure and that life is just passing by, and sometimes I wish I could just peek into the future to see where I am actually heading and see that hopefully everything is going to be okay. I didn’t want to have life pass me by and that is why I decided to enjoy it now, despite the insecure feeling it sometimes gives me. I needed to find the moments that I enjoyed the most, and by identifying them I found my new happy.
Family
I am a real family person and live by the saying ”Family first!’‘. Especially since most of my family are living in the Netherlands or Suriname, I enjoy every single minute I can spend with them. I used to go back to the Netherlands once or twice a year, but a couple of weeks ago I decided that I will go whenever I can to spend more time with my family and actually see my nephew grow up in real life instead of over Skype.
I am fully aware and have seen it with some of my friends, that family is not always as fun or reliable as it should be, that is why I definitely believe that sometimes friends become family and that non-blood related people are sometimes a better family than blood-related. You need to find and identify your own family.
Friends
I seriously have the best friends in the world that are there for me (and I for them) 24/7. They are the kind of friends that will come over to London to help me pack and move because they know how chaotic I am and when they are there, it just goes quick and smoothly or when I go back to the Netherlands for a week, they arrange with my parents that they pick me up with ‘Welcome back, we missed you” posters, while I am arriving thinking my parents will be there.
Having really good friends is so important and needed in life. I really believe that everyone should have their ‘ride or die inner circle’ that you can have some serious fun with, and at the same time talk to about when you are down or need some advice.
Experiences
I’d rather go travelling or do something fun with family, friends or by myself than spend it on material stuff (if I can do both, that would be ideal, but if I had to choose, experiences it definitely is!)
In the end, experiences are what make your life more fun and worth living. Meeting new people, travelling and stepping out of your comfort zone is way more satisfying than buying that 400 pound dress.
Me-time
I love me-time! I think it is so important to spend time on your own and just get to know yourself a little bit better every time.
You need to learn how to have fun with yourself and actually take the time to reflect, meditate or just chill and watch Netflix without being on your phone the whole time, connected to the outside world.
Career Girl Daily
Career Girl Daily definitely became one of my new happy moments and I can’t imagine my life without it. It is really stressful most of the time, but the satisfaction I get from it is enormous. I learn so much and the freedom we have in building our own little empire is just so much fun.
Whatever your version of my Career Girl Daily is, hold on to it. It is important that you have a place where you can think outside of the box and without limits. Where you can just be creative and see how you can turn a ‘nothing’ into a ‘something’!