Everyone at some point in their life, realizes two things:

1. They need to change themselves, and
2. They need to change the world around them.

For me, I came to realize this a few years ago when I could no longer be comfortable in my own skin and knew that things can't keep happening the way they are, which I talked about in one of my earlier posts.

Now, after a lot of sleepless nights, regrets, fighting my own mind, and gaining a different perspective on life, I'm close to becoming a better version of myself. Though, I'm nowhere near practicing the best of my abilities yet, it's still a noticeable start.

From my experience, I've learned that what you let go of, and what you hold on to, makes the biggest difference in life, determining what you will become in the future.

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Career

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Figuring out what I want to do with my life is the only question that still gives me anxiety up to this day. While everyone else around me including my friends already knew what field they were going to pursue, I was the only kid who had no idea, not because I had no interests, but the exact opposite, in fact. I had too many.

I couldn't decide which one to go for because most of the things that I was interested in, required a lot of financial and emotional investment, which a broke teenager from a middle-class family couldn't afford. But then my cousin introduced me to Steemit, a place where I could literally get paid to write. A total win-win situation.

Honestly, joining Steemit is the biggest change I've made in this year. I got to meet some amazing people and I learned a lot from them. But the reason why it means so much to be is because I got to do what I love. Writing has always been one of my escapes and to be able to make it a potential career, is nothing but pure bliss for me.

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Health

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After reading the above paragraph you might be thinking that everything worked out just fine for me, right? Not really. As I began to write daily posts to build up my blog and get more and more attention on my work, I realized that my health started to deteriorate. I started to feel lazy and went from determined to demotivated.

It all happened so fast that at one point it got so overwhelming that I had to force myself to take a break of a day or two. I started to gain weight and eventually had neck pain because I was sitting in front of the computer for most of the time in a day and wasn't really paying any attention to what was happening to both, my physical and mental health.

I knew that if I keep letting this happen, it'll soon start to affect the quality of my posts as I wouldn't be able to think clearly and enthusiastically. So, in order to balance it out, I started jogging and a few other exercises in the morning or evening, depending upon the work I have left to do, with some small yet considerable changes in my diet.

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Perspective

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I've made some really horrible decisions in my life, and I'm pretty sure you guys have too. Sometimes it just becomes impossible to not regret over the stupid mistakes we've made in the past and think about what would things be like if we did or said something different.

But the way I see it, your regrets polish your perspective. A person who has never made mistakes, has never learned, and thus has never truly lived. We all make mistakes, some greater than others, but if we don't let ourselves make new mistakes, we'll always be trapped in fear, and won't be able to live life the way it's supposed to be lived: fear free.

I know that sounds really dramatic, but it's true. The sooner we realise that regrets are only lessons and nothing more, the sooner we can free ourselves from the chains of guilt. Most people see regret as a sign of failure, when in reality, it is a sign of progress. It's a sign that you are growing as a person and are beginning to learn from your mistakes.

After all, isn't that what wisdom truly is?

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This is my entry for the Pick A Topic Writing Contest under the topic ‘Recent Big Changes I Made In My Life’ hosted by @averageoutsider.

Thanks for reading!