Life isn’t just about following a checklist
Dear Cafecito,
Looking back on my life, I felt very lost in my 20s! It was a decade of crazy decisions and the belief that the world was my oyster. I jumped into every opportunity without hesitation and experienced a lot of failure in career decisions, friendships, and relationships.
When I hit my 30s, I thought I had it all figured out. I followed the traditional path of checking off all the boxes of success. Or so I thought. I got a stable job with a really good salary, thinking that money would make me happy. I continued going to school and ended up pursuing two graduate level degrees. I was determined to follow the script of adulthood and was convinced that by doing so, I’d find ultimate happiness because that is what I was led to believe when I worked as a server. The people in my life convinced me that I would be happier if “I became somebody in life”. This is definitely something I plan to look into and further investigate. I plan to find scholarly articles that explore these topics that greatly interest me. Moving forward, working as a server was one of the greatest experiences that taught me a lot about life and becoming self-sufficient, but this will definitely be a topic for another day.
But now, as I’m about to turn 40, I’ve realized that the way I approached life was just not working for me because I ended up feeling confused, dehydrated, and exhausted. I actually do not feel any of these things right now at the moment. Quite the opposite, I feel very hydrated, full of energy because I’ve been eating a lot healthier than before, and I am making sure I get enough rest. I also gave up energy drinks back in August. Now that I am older, I’m starting to understand that life isn’t just about following a checklist; it’s about enjoying the journey.
I’ve realized that I need to slow down and do things that make me truly happy and not try to impress other people. For example, I love designing, illustrating, creativity, and art aside from reading of course. I’ve come to realize that I enjoy doing these things a whole lot more when I do it for myself. When I come up with a design for a tote bag that I want for myself, I enjoy it more as opposed to trying to profit from a design that others MIGHT choose to consider. I’m also excited to try new things such as learning a new language. Currently, I am learning Japanese, which is not at all easy, but my frontal lobe is benefiting from this process. These aren’t just hobbies for me; these activities give purpose to my life.
I feel this is a topic that I need to write more about as a way to heal from my 30s and possibly to provide a glimpse of what it was like for me. There is no call-to-action for this post because this journal entry poured out from my soul from the life experiences section. I first wrote down my thoughts on paper, and here they are now…alive on a digital platform called Substack.
Thank you for stopping by!
Sincerely,
Clari♡ from The Cafecito Diaries ☕️📝 | 💌 hello@claribotello.com
Disclaimer: This post is provided for educational and informational purposes only. This post does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services.