Last Tuesday, I added another year to my age. I’m officially in the middle of being “in the late twenties”. It’s true that your perspective change when you get to this point. I’m over the phase of “I’m young, I can do what I want”. Now, I’m in the “I’m old… What the fuck am I doing in my life???” stage. I’m slowly realizing that I can’t be “Forever 21″. But then again, it’s sad to be stuck in certain stage anyway. As much as I want to be like the “[wo]man that can’t be moved”, I have to, or else, I’ll be missing out a lot of things in this life. So, happy birthday to me!

To cap off the end of my birthday week, I’ve made a list of 27 things.

Things to be thankful for. (Yes, they’re cliche, but definitely, still true.)

01. Having a complete and supportive family.
02. Having a happy-go-lucky, and sweet boyfriend I can always depend on.
03. Having quirky, and lovely friends.
04. Having a stable job.
05. Losing several pounds last year.
06. Being healthy and strong enough.

Things I have learned.

07. Life is short to waste time doing things I don’t like, and to care about other people’s bullshit.
08. Work to live, not live to work.
09. Indeed, money can’t buy happiness but it can certainly fund nice things, trips, and events that can lead to happiness.
10. There are always trade offs. In order to get what I want, certain sacrifices have to be made.
11. However, I’ve learned not to trade my time with my family, and friends for mundane things.
12. People won’t always agree with certain matters in life, work, politics, and everything else. I’ve learned not to take their non-agreement as a personal attack. I don’t anymore take it personally even if, sometimes, they do.
13. There are morons, assholes, and dishonest people; there are also nice, honorable, and decent people. At the end of the day, it’s going to be up to you to decide what kind of person you want to be.

Things to do. (The late New Year’s resolution).

14. Save and invest more.
15. Lose more weight.
16. Commit to keeping my room organized. Usually, I find myself cleaning and organizing my room, then, after several days, it’s messily ‘organize’ again.
17. Revamp my photoblog.
18. Learn a new programming language.
19. Learn a new guitar piece.

Things to do before turning 28. (The bucket list)

20. Climb Mt. Pulag.
21. Go on a Sagada adventure
22. Swim with the whale sharks at Donsol or Oslob.
23. Continue my startup business.

Things to look forward to.

24. Traveling the world. I haven’t been able to plan any travels this year due to budget constraints. Now, slowly but surely, I’m replenishing my travel funds. Hopefully, in a year or two, I’ll be packing up my bags and hopping on an airplane again.
25. Be able to do pull ups. A year ago, I can’t even do a decent push up. Now, I can. I’ve been surprised by what my body can  can do, and I’m not about to limit myself.
26. Reaping the benefits of my investments. Last year, I’ve made several small investments for my future. I’m excited to see the results in a few years.
27. The many more birthdays to come. As much as I dread to get older each year, I still love celebrating.

Birthday Week Celebration