I recently celebrated my birthday and I had a time to reflect on my life. I figured so many things that happened to me either contributed to a better outcome or a negative one. So, I decided to put it on  paper but then I think it's going to be so much better if I could share it to people. This is not only because I am proud of it but also I believe that people can learn something from it or at least help them to reflect on themselves so without any further ado, I'll share what I've learned.

1. Silence is not a bad thing. I have learned to embrace the silence a lot more than me being loud or people around me. I am able to reflect more on myself and meditate more effectively. It also helps me understand myself being an introvert although I also consider myself as an ambivert depending on the situation or the people I am with.
2. When there is happiness, there is sadness. I used to question myself why do I have to always feel sad or bad about being happy. I tend to keep myself from being happy because I always end up crying the next day. It wasn't easy for me to understand the give and take process of dark and light but I am glad that I now understand it. It is not a bad thing. It is the balance of light and dark into someone's life.
3. People will come and go. This is something a lot of people are struggling to accept especially if it's someone they love. I still do and to be honest with you I am afraid to lose someone in my life right now that is why I am doing my best to understand each other's situation in so many things. We live 8,000 miles apart from each other and I have to accept that it is going to be hard for both of us. This helps me understand that he has his own personal life and priorities to work on. He may be able to visit me but he needs to go back home too. And this also applies to friends I've met. I have to accept that they can go and leave me anytime for reason that I may or may not understand but it's okay. I have to keep going for soon I will find some who will actually stay.
4. Personality is not based on religion. No matter what your religion is, it's not going to measure the nature of your personality. I personally am an eclectic wiccan and most people think I am a bad person for choosing such religion yet in fact I am far from how they think I am. There are tons of people who claim to be in this or that religion but cannot be a decent person. You are the only one who can control yourself and not the teaching of others. They could serve as an inspiration but it is still up to you on how are you gonna look up to them. Your way of life depends on your belief and how you live up to it. So, whatever religion you are in, if you cannot be a decent person, if you cannot be kind and loving, if you cannot be respectful to everyone, then you're only using your religion as an excuse to cover up your true personality. 
5. Being hated is inevitable. Whether you think you've been nice to everybody around you, there will always and forever be at least one person who's going to hate you because of who you are.You could be the nicest person on earth yet you will be hated for what you do simply because it is you and not them. Someone in some way will not listen to whatever you say and that's okay. You do not have to please them to love you and it is their problem if they take so much time in their life to hate you. If they cannot take you for who you are then they just need to suck it up. This is not to promote hate on anybody but to make you understand that it's okay to be who you are no matter how many people hate you for being you.
6. Everybody has their own story. Just because you're life doesn't look like other people's life that doesn't mean you are entitled to judge them. If you want to judge somebody's life, just keep it to yourself for it doesn't really help someone to get better. One person you're talking to might probably on the verge of taking his life yet you're throwing him all sorts of judgement without knowing his story. If you cannot take time to listen to him at least you can do is be quiet but if you can be a decent person and actually willing to lend an ear then that's gonna be perfect. Everybody has their own secret and so are you. You have to try to put yourself in their shoes to understand what it is like if you do something to them.
7. You cannot give something you cannot have. If you cannot love yourself, you cannot love someone in the best possible way that you can. If you cannot be kind to yourself then you'll have a hard time being kind to somebody else. Whether you think you're loving them or being kind to them as much as you can but you aren't aware that you're hurting them by not doing the same thing to yourself, especially if the person you're giving all these love and kindness is the one who thinks you matter the most. You can hurt somebody unconsciously and you have to do something about that and understand it as well. You cannot give love if you don't know how to love yourself. Everything starts with you and not them. You have to be happy for yourself so you can be happy for them and their achievements too. It might take a lot of hard work but it's going to be worth it.