I am officially on vacation. This means that I am doing my favorite thing: traveling. I had a ball in North Carolina and my next stop is Alabama to visit the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration. I also just had a birthday. Since I turned 31, I thought of 31 life lessons I’ve learned to date. Some of them I am still working on (like my patience) but they are lessons life has taught me were important nonetheless:

1. Always put Yah and Yahoshua first. YAH is faithful. He can and he will.
2. Be yourself. People don’t have to like you and you don’t have to care.
3.  If it doesn’t feel right that’s because it’s not right.
4. Remember, the more you know, the less you speak. Sometimes the loudest one in the room is also the weakest one in the room.
5. Watch everything. Let nothing go over your head. Listen to body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions. Hear everything people don’t say in words.
6. Establish boundaries, let people know what those boundaries are and remind them when they have transgressed them.
7. No is a complete sentence. You are allowed to turn down a commitment without feeling guilty about it.
8. Marriage is sacred. Protect it. Remember that everything doesn’t belong on social media. Learn to experience something beautiful and tell no one.
9. New beginnings. It’s never too late to begin again.
10. Love all. Trust few.
11. Be patient with yourself.
12. Call your mother. You only get one.
13. Pay attention to yourself. Your actions reveal your heart.
14. Speak up. People don’t know how to love you if you don’t show them. If something irritates or annoys you, say it.
15. Never sacrifice your integrity no matter how enticing the opportunity.
16. Don’t chase people. If someone wants to be in your life, you’ll know.
17. Because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of the world has grown cold so be kind, be gentle, be considerate.
18. Karma is a real thing. If you don’t want it to happen to you, don’t do it to others.
19. “Some people say that cucumbers taste better pickle.” < See how this statement makes no sense? Just because something sounds deep, doesn’t mean that it is.
20. Be a fool for no one.
21. Friendships are sacred. Don’t go around calling everyone you friend or sister. Make them prove it.
22. Remember to check on your strong friends.
23. Assume nothing. Validate everything.
24. Laugh. Let joy rub off on you. One day you won’t have the privilege of being in a good mood. One day things won’t be so joyous and you’ll just have the memories of when they were.
25. Make memories.
26. Don’t ever look down on someone for not knowing what you know. There was a time when you didn’t know either.
27. You don’t know what you don’t know.
28. Spend time alone. Get to know yourself.
29. Be willing to walk alone, than with a thousand snakes.
30. Remember the homeless as if chained to them. Let their condition be a reminder of your humility. Your life could always be worse.
31. Remember that there is a way of correcting people without telling the whole world. Educate, but do not make people feel less than they are. Even if someone is wrong, give them the tools they need to be successful but leave them with their dignity.