2010 Countdown: What I've Learned this Year

I love learning. I think it's fun. I have a hard time with routine and becoming stagnate so I'm always striving for self-improvement and knowledge. I've learned a lot this year but then again I probably think that every year. Although, I think this year was significant in many ways. For one I had my first real, live boyfriend. I've had boyfriends before but not the kind where you meet one another's family and bestest friends, go on trips together, spend holidays together, and include them in your future plans. Whereas going in I thought he was the reward for learning so much about dating and boys I found out having a real grown-up relationship only leads to more learning and growth. The fun kind, of course. As well, I quit a dead end job and embarked on grad school round dos, which required my first internship ever (and this is after years of working in the real world). These significant changes, as well as others, have really topped my list of Years I've Learned the Most. And so without further ado here is my list of what I've learned this year to go along with my list of Years I've Learned the Most:

- It's okay to not know what you want. I'm actually still working on accepting this but at least I've learned it. We all gotta start somewhere.
- The old adage of relationships requiring a lot of work needs to be tweaked. Relationships do require effort to maintain but there's a difference between work and effort. I feel as though work denotes something negative and so if your relationship feels like work all of the time you may want to reexamine your relationship. It should feel like inspired effort. You both want to do things to make one another's life easier, as well as to bolster your relationship.
- No one knows better than you do. At least when it comes to what you want and what makes you happy. And often other things too, like how to apply moss to Rose Parade floats. It's okay to listen to others but I'm starting to learn that I don't have to give as much (or any) weight to what they have to say as I have in the past.
- Facebook is the devil. Yet I'm still on there.
- Writing is therapeutic and something I should do often. I'll try to remember that rather than take breaks from blogging when inspiration is hiding.
- Go easy on myself. I am my own harshest critic and I need to remember that I am enough as is.

And that is what I have learned most this year. What have you learned this year?