I start writing this a month before I turn 30. Although, as my boyfriend would say… I’m already turning 30, something I don’t fully agree with, but I understand.

I think that throughout my life I have had the intention of reflecting (I have gone to therapy on several occasions) but I had not understood the real meaning and importance of the subject until a while ago. And this article falls into my hands at the right time, since I spent the last month reflecting.

According to the dictionary, reflecting is… “Thinking and considering an issue carefully and carefully in order to study it, understand it well, form an opinion about it or make a decision”

And this is what I have become aware of lately. Because in recent years, I felt that everything “happened to me”. The places, the people, the situations, the achievements, the failures…

Until the pandemic made us stop. And be careful, at that moment I wasn’t capable of reflecting, I didn’t want to, I wasn’t ready. So 2020 ended with me trying to dive into my own depths in search of answers, which in 2021 would begin to come through reflection.

I gave myself completely to her, to slow down, pause, look back “carefully”, question myself, understand myself, put everything into words, have great “aha moments” and commit to applying these learnings on future occasions.

Here I share some of these reflections:

1. We choose what to give attention to and prioritize. And no, it can’t be everything at the same time.

2. All the answers are within you. You just have to know how to be patient and listen to the body, the mind, the heart.

3. You can’t control anything. Focus on giving your best in every situation, trust and let go.

4. Happiness is a choice and you have to take responsibility for it. Stop waiting for things to happen to be happy… every moment has its flashes of happiness.

5. Movement generates movement. Here I suggest you to use trial and error strategy. This will allow you to get to know yourself better and know yes and no.

6. Communication is key. In my case, the exercise of speaking has helped me to unblock issues with myself and with others. Choose who to talk to.

7. Take care of the people you love. Many times we get lost in the day to day, in what worries us or dazzles us. But people are like plants, they need to be watered and taken care of.

8. Reduce negative stimuli and load up on positive stimuli. I was the typical one who read the newspaper every day. However, I realized that important information always comes and now I spend that time on reading that does not alter my mind.

9. Spend time with yourself and with nature. The pandemic had us locked up for a long time. Nature brings clarity, ideas, inspiration, calm, energy and more.

10. BREATHE AND MEDITATE! It goes with capital letters, it is that this has been the starting point for reflection and has really changed my rhythm of life.

11. Look for the humor in every situation. Life has very unusual ways of presenting itself, we can make everything a drama or a tragicomedy. We are the protagonists of our own movies (or series, soap opera, podcast, reality show, whatever you prefer).

12. What you ignore today, will present itself again tomorrow. This is so. In different ways, people, places, what you don’t manage today, will find a way to repeat itself. When something has already been enlightened, you cannot go on ignoring it.

13. If you don’t count on yourself, you don’t have anyone. As the famous cliché says, the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. Ask yourself questions, test yourself, make your own decisions.

14. Take care of yourself as you would like to be taken care of. From the moment you get up to the moment you go to bed, you have many opportunities during the day to take care of yourself… For example, you can get to places on time or in a hurry, walk if it is a sunny day or take the subway if you are tired, choose to see what is good or the bad in every situation.

15. Beauty comes from within. Attractive people are attractive because of the energy they radiate from within. You notice it in his smile, in his way of speaking, expressing himself, moving, even in how his skin looks. It has little to do with the shape of the body or the face.

16. The talk with yourself should be from affection and compassion. There is NO point in blaming yourself for how you “should” have done it. Better to forgive yourself and choose how you would like to do it next time.

17. Ask yourself what things you do from the SHOULD BE. We should all take charge of letting go of it, to really choose who we want to be.

18. Pride never got anyone anywhere. Better, try talking, giving opportunities, apologizing.

19. Life is cycles. Today you are up, tomorrow you are down and the day after you will be up again. Yes, you will fall in love again, to be excited, to laugh, but better to have gone through the lows to value it and thank it even more.

20. Everything around you, you have manifested. This I fervently believe. We are “co-creators” of our reality. And therefore, it is important to take charge and begin to “co-create” what we long for. That things do not “happen to us”.

21. You have to be patient. Ugh, complicated, but every internal or external process requires it. Again, let’s trust that it will happen. This will allow us to be able to focus and work towards a goal.

22. Let yourself be loved. Stop longing for what only happens in the movies and start opening your heart for extraordinary things to happen.

23. You can’t do EVERYTHING. This one is hard for me. Much. But what a beautiful satisfaction to be able to choose and relax, to be present.

24. The word THANKS has enormous value and meaning. I love to thank my acquaintances and also strangers.

25. This one is simple: Say I LOVE YOU to the people you love. Simple, right? For some maybe yes, for others like me, not so much. But living in another country, I learned not to let the opportunity pass.

26. What is for you, will find you. Without a doubt, I can tell you a thousand stories of things or people or places that later, looking back, had to be part of my history.

27. Stop doing things to please. María Victoria, don’t forget this one. Because when you don’t do it with intention, it doesn’t work.

28. EVERYTHING is energy and energy vibrates at a frequency. Having these two clear premises is that I choose what I intend my energy to be, knowing that my frequency will attract people and things that vibrate in a similar way.

29. Opportunities appear in many shapes and colors, it is up to you to take advantage of them or let them pass. Don’t get overwhelmed, there will always be other opportunities.

30. Your purpose is what you like + what you do well. This is a phrase by Deepak Chopra that I didn’t like the first time I heard it, it didn’t match. However, 2021 surprised me and asked me to be part of Less&Conscious. Today I recognize that it aligns with my purpose, combining both concepts in a way that I would not have imagined.

Finally, life could be a constant reflection. Personal work is not finished nor does it have goals or victories. So I take the audacity to ask you to be patient and allow yourself to enjoy the process. As someone very special once told me, life is wonderful.

Happy birthday to all those who change the decade and also to those who dare to reflect! Chin chin for all of you and for me.