We can look back at the past decade and draw from it the lessons it gifted us with in order for us live a more mindful year ahead. Here’s twenty truths I have gained over the past ten years that I plan to re-visit over the coming year in hope it will help me navigate the next twelve months with a little more wisdom and a more mindful approach to life.

Your mental and emotional health Is the most important thing you can nurture. Don’t place obtaining things over your general health and wellbeing.

The bad experiences never last forever, And neither do good ones. Both gift us with the opportunities to view them from the perspective of how they have helped us grow on both a personal and spiritual level. It’s wise to remind ourselves that life is a continuous balance of navigating through the yin and yang.

Forgiving others is actually an act of self love. Do not hold on to feelings of resentment or bitterness. You can still forgive people but choose to also let them go.

Do not nurture what causes you suffering. Instead have the courage to be completely honest with yourself about what helps you live a happier and more fulfilled life, and what doesn’t. Then spend your time cultivating the foremost.

No one is responsible for your happiness or healing. That goes the same for you not being responsible for anyone else’s happiness or healing, you are only responsible for your own.

Strong personal boundaries reflect your levels of self-worth. Ultimately we teach people how to treat us. Set good strong personal boundaries in order to experience happy and healthy relationships. Boundaries are not acts of selfishness, they are necessary.

No matter how loving, compassionate or thoughtful you may try to be, there will always be people who will make judgements about how you live your life. It is unrealistic to expect everyone to like you. As long as you like yourself that is the thing that matters most.

Self love is the most important love you can cultivate in your life. When we truly love ourselves it enables us to then extend that same level of love out to the wider world.

Sometimes you are going to mess up, maybe even hurt those you love. And that’s O.K, these experiences act as reminders that we are in fact all human. Be gentle with yourself during these times. As long as you learn and grow from the experience it is not a lost opportunity to become a little wiser.

It’s an act of courage and maturity to admit when you have done something wrong. Always have the strength to admit when you could have dealt with something better and don’t be afraid to apologise. It’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.

The one thing we can be certain of is that change is inevitable. Learn to lean into feelings of uncertainty surrounding change, do not fight them.

Social media is mostly fake, stop comparing the sharing.

We can only meet others as deeply as we have met ourselves. Therefore the best thing we can do to help others is to continually work on ourselves.

Have the courage to always speak your truth. Honouring yourself in this way will help you to walk through life in line with your true nature.

Do not let others treat you poorly, even if you love them.

You cannot force others to change. You can only focus on changing yourself.

You cannot control other people’s behaviour, you can only control your response to other peoples behaviour.

Our hardest lessons are our biggest teachers. Embrace them.

How you treat others is a reflection of who you are. The most important thing we can do in this lifetime is to try to love unconditionally. Fast cars, fancy clothes, big houses and bigger wage packets are all just things our ego’s crave to prove to ourselves or others that we are successful. Instead of focussing your success on material gain, focus your achievements on how you love and serve others.