welcome back

so I'm turning 27 this week and this may be an unpopular opinion

but I actually feel like growing up..

it's such an exciting thing because

as I get older the more I learn about the world and myself

the more I learn about the person I want to become

the more I see myself realizing all those things

and becoming the person that I want to be

I don't know.. I just feel like that whole journey

and this whole journey of being alive and healthy and breathing

and being able to grow up

I think it's such a wonderful thing that..

I don't know..

a lot of us may take for granted (myself included) every once in a while

so today.. we're gonna talk about 26 things I learned at 26

and having a birthday at the end of the year

I used to hate it when I was younger because it gets combined with Christmas

so instead of getting two gifts I just get one gift or just no gift at all

anddd... yeah..

but now that I'm older I think it's such an awesome thing

because you usually reflect on your birthdays so it's like..

ok I'm gonna reflect in December

and then it's the new year so you do more reflecting

so it's just this..

~ fusion haaa ~ of great reflection

so to all my Sagittarius babies out there

*virtual hug* here's a hug

happy birthday to you guys, happy birthday month

andddd... yeah..

so let's just get started with the first thing

one of the most important things I learned this year

is that you can't be your best all the time

but you can try your best all the time

sometimes your best is here and that's totally fine

sometimes it's here and that's totally fine too

as long as we're trying our best

given the circumstances of whatever situation were in

that's good enough

and I feel like most of us on this channel are all pretty..

I don't know like we..

kind of have really high expectations for ourselves

we're really hard on ourselves

we want to be this thing that we have in our minds

and it frustrates the heck out of us and we're not

sometimes your best isn't gonna be the picture you painted in your head

and that's totally ok

this kind of ties in with the second thing which is done is better than perfect

doing something and starting is so much better than

having the result be exactly what you imagined it to be

and I feel like more often than not

the chase for perfection and wanting something to be perfect

is actually holding us back so much for even just starting

and sometimes it just prevents us from starting at all

so I really really started embracing the fact this year

that things aren't always as bad as we think it is in our head

it's almost always just in our head

thinking it's not good enough, thinking we're not good enough

so done is better than perfect

and the third thing is

there's no best option for what you should do with your life

what I've realized this year is that as long as I use my heart fully

it's a Chinese thing for "yong xin"

"yong" is use, "xin" is heart

if I fully apply myself to whatever it is that's right in front of me

no matter which path I take..

if I use my heart in any one of these paths

eventually they're all gonna come together

this is something that you guys actually ask me quite often too of like..

I don't know what to do..

I don't know what the right thing to do is.. please help..

I've learned it's just to do my best where I am with what I have

and trusting myself in the process

that eventually it'll lead me to where I need to be

I love New York..

there's so much noises everywhere

and then the sun's about to set

(≧◡≦)

my life.. okay..

and I guess that could be..

that could be the fourth thing just rolling with the punches

you know.. waking up..

you never know what you're gonna get every day

but you can try your best where you are and do you're best

actually that's just a summary of the first three points

so the fourth thing is balance

which is something that I struggled with so much this year

it's important to push ourselves

and it's important to push yourself hard

but it's also important to remember that

there's only so much we can humanly do

before we push ourselves to a full-blown blowout

and it brings us to the next point which is

to give yourself permission to be a potato if you want to be a potato

listen to your body, listen to yourself, give yourself what it needs

because.. next point..

it's all temporary

no matter how awesome you're feeling

no matter how terrible you're feeling

no matter how if you're on cloud nine

if you're at rock bottom

wherever you are..

it's all gonna be temporary so don't be too attached to it

which is like the seventh thing of not to be too attached to anything

because at the end of the day

we're not going to feel awesome all the time

we're not going to feel terrible all the time

so to be attached to wanting to feel a certain way all the time

we're just setting ourselves up for failure because..

we can't be one thing all the time as much as we want it to be

so I think it goes back to acceptance

and just accepting yourself for all the good and bad

and knowing that..

sometimes best is here, sometimes best is here and it's okay..

yeah I think it all comes down to like..

acceptance, awareness, knowing who you are

and knowing that we're human

and it's okay to feel things

and to not be okay all the time

yeah..

the next thing

when in doubt, honesty is always the best..

~ ahh I just bit myself ~ honesty is always the best policy

for this video there are gonna be sponsors

but I just want to let you guys know that it's to allow me

to make what I want to make for the end of the year

so that there can be the manifestos

and the thing on my spirituality

and all these awesome things

that I've been itching to make but I haven't been able to

so with all that being said..

this is gonna bring us to the next point which is giving back

I'm going to be donating what I'm making from this video

to my favorite nonprofit that moves me

and inspires me so deeply every single year

this is a form of giving back for sure

but I want to start giving back to causes that

have helped me so much during my darkest times

and has helped uplifted me and my soul and my existence

I think this all sounds like pretty like.. ~ ooooo!! ~

but dude if you guys have seen Shen Yun

and you probably will know what I mean

if you guys haven't, I highly highly encourage you guys to watch it

so the mission of Shen Yun is to revitalize 5,000 years of Chinese culture

through like singing, dancing, musical performances and..

it's so beautiful, it's so wonderful

I'm gonna like, you know.. throw some clips up for you guys to see

some of you guys have asked if I will ever start a patreon

some of you guys have asked if I'm ever gonna do some sort of donations page

I'm so grateful and thankful that you guys are thinking about me

and want to help me in this way

but I do have more than enough already

so it'll mean the world to me if you guys could donate even $1 or $5

however much to Shen Yun I'll leave the link down below

and of course, this isn't the sponsored message just FYI..

it's just.. I really want to share this with you guys okay

#10 is self-care is skincare and skincare is self-care

I spent a good amount of this year

learning so much about the outer inner inner outer

how our internal state, stress, being overwhelmed

the foods we feed ourselves affects our outer world

like our skin and you know.. everything out here

and how also the products we apply to our face really affects

everything that's going on inside as well

so the importance of clean beauty

the importance of being mindful

of the different types of products we're putting on our faces

this year I was really happy to learn so much more about clean beauty

and discovering brands like Follain

who are so committed to sourcing like

the best 100% non-toxic skincare and beauty products

if you do have people in your life or maybe it might be yourself

who are looking into these cleaner types of skincare products

I would honestly highly recommend Follain

yes, this is sponsored but I really do love this brand

and I have so much respect for their mission

and everything it is that they're doing

so there is this hydration kit that comes in a pouch

and there are 3 products which are perfect for winter

these products make an awesome gift

because it's for all ages, it's for all skin types

it allows you to share your love for your loved ones

because you are caring about their health

you're caring about their internal state

so if this kit is something you feel like you can use in your life

or if this is something that you feel like you can gift someone

who is very near and dear to your heart

feel free to click the link down below

you can get over 45% off and free shipping from Follain

and you will be able to get this hydration kit

and this awesome little pouch

so #11 is..

time spent on yourself is never time wasted

even if that means taking some time away from your loved ones

because I really believe that at the end of the day

those who love you and those who understand what you're doing

will be there supporting you and cheering for you

regardless if you can be physically or mentally present

or even if you're not physically mentally present for a while..

that being said..

relationships are also really important

um.. but I really do believe that

as long as there's open line of communications

as long as both parties.. both sides are trying

or I think you know.. let's just focus on ourself

as long as you're trying your best

to keep that line of communication open

it's really important

which brings me to #12 which is..

my parents are my best friends

the older I'm getting the more I'm just like ..

wow! they're so cool and they're so funny and they're so cute

as of right now in my life

I'm not the best at keeping in touch with people

the only people that I keechup.. keep up with..

keep in touch with.. keep touch with..

umm..

are my parents like I call mom and dad

either mom or dad or both

everyday on my commute home

even if I get to talk to them for 10 minutes or 15 minutes

and I just feel like you'll make time for what's most important

and as of right now in my life it's like yeah..

my parents are what's most important

and of course my friends, relationships, like everyone else that's important as well

but the older you get the more you also realize that

you don't have time for everything

so what you spend your time on

is a reflection of what's most important to you

and so it's important to know what's most important to you

so that you can spend your time that way instead of any other way

hope that makes sense

so the next point is curiosity