Advice For My 23rd Year

My Look: Top | Scarf | Denim | Boots | Hat

Photos x Sarah Wolfe

For those of you who don’t know, last week I turned 23. My life is a lot different than most 23 year olds that I know. I’m not just now graduating from college, starting my career in some big city, single and trying to find Mr Right, bar-hopping with my besties every weekend – but I wouldn’t change a thing about the life I am blessed with and chose to live. And even though I am not in the same stage of life as many of my same-age friends or most 23 year olds out there, I can still relate to this age in so many ways. We are at the age when we are really defining ourselves as a woman and discovering our purpose and who we want to be. We have finally become the age when we get to make our own choices and decisions and we don’t even know it, but our life will dramatically change with every decision we are making.

I would say I’m a little bit of an ‘old soul’ for my age, but that doesn’t mean I am even close to having it all together. So, I decided to ask people who are older than 23 over my Instagram what advice they would give a 23 year old or their 23 year old self. I am just using the number 23 because I obviously just had a birthday and am that number but it really goes for anyone in this age group because we are all going through such similar things. I loved all the advice that was given because people really hit all different stages of life you could be at this time!! So this post I think will be so relatable for any of you who are around my age – no matter what you are going through. Here are some pieces of advice I got from my amazing readers!!

To the twenty-three year old:

“It’s okay to let go of friendships if you outgrow them or they become unhealthy. A hard lesson to learn but it’s helped so much.” – 25

“Embrace fear. It’s never too late for a career change or a ‘drop everything and move to a big city’ change.”

“To forgive is much easier than to hold onto anger, and a lot less work.” “Build a strong relationship with your parents because they won’t be here forever.” -26

“You don’t have to force yourself to take the ‘typical path’ of a full time career. The pursuit of passion is much more important than the pursuit of money or doing what others ‘think you should’. Follow your heart and don’t question it – there’s no way to regret your decision when you are following that.”

“I wish I would have spent more time being present and less time with my face in my phone. When I turned 23 I had several extended family members fall ill and pass away, it game me so much more perspective and commitment to nurturing relationships.” -24

“I’m 26 and just got married in September to the perfect man and accepted a teaching job in July at a really good school district. 3 years ago I couldn’t even imagine that this is where I’d be. I wish at 23 I would have known that it’s okay to still be figuring life out. It would have saved me from all the stress and anxiety I was feeling and all that acne that started to flare up because of it lol” -26

“My advice would be try your hardest to focus on your life goals while still having fun. You may have pictured your life going a certain way but it’s okay if it’s not happening exactly as you thought it would. God’s plans are way bigger than anything we could imagine. And try to embrace the unknown.” -29

“Take more chances! I just turned 24 and spent my early twenties planning so much and being afraid to go outside my comfort zone. I took more time off this year to travel with my boyfriend and decided to splurge a little on things I’ve been wanting for awhile! It’s been so fun and I’m much happier!” -24

Xx,