This weekend, I got some major stuff done. I finally got my class 5 licence and bought my first car, Iris. With graduation and my Canadian citizenship on the immediate future, it seems I’m on the right track. I just need to get my career started and I fit the female, early 20, post-secondary education demographic. But I know that even if you’re on the right track, if you stop moving - you get left behind.

Taking control of one’s destiny. 

Those five words are easily uttered into thin air with the gossamer-thin promise of fulfillment. I say these words every New Year’s Day, every time my age increases by one, and every time a new semester starts. 

But as I faced full fledged adulthood with my 21st birthday (two weeks ago), I couldn’t help but wonder if self-improvement is ever going to stop. 

It doesn’t. You strive for more and you want more out of yourself than what you have in any given period. 

I couldn’t help but be reminded of the term I learned in my first senior Marketing class: continuous innovation.

I guess we don’t stop innovating within ourselves. We find processes we want to improve and results we want to attain. It’s like chasing pavements, but unlike the Adele song, which I happen to love dearly, the quest to be the best we can be never really stops. 

And it’s absolutely freeing. We’re never going to attain perfection, but we are going to do our best to get close to it. That the mistakes we made are just paths laid out to get us to where we are. And the decisions we make today are absolutely vital to our quest. 

(The Pokemon song is now stuck in my head. What gives?)

Under the cut:

List of what I’ve learned so far. Mostly for my own reference. But read on if you wish. 

P.  

Pam’s Lessons so far:

• A phonecall that you’re dreading to make and mulled over for 20 minutes? Took 2 minutes. So next time you’re dreading to do something - just do it. It’s okay - it’s for your sanity.
• Compromise. You don’t know it all and you have to swallow your pride in order to ask information. Those who are willing to give you guidance have really been there, done that. Don’t insist on making your own mistakes, because their mistakes are worth so much more if you learned from them too. 
• Lazy time is so much better when you’ve done everything you need to do for the time being. Instant gratification is only good for ice cream, but not really for anything else. So get off your butt and do what you need to do. 
• Sometimes people just need to grow up a bit. And when they have, reestablished friendships are rather fantastic. So go on and forgive, you’d want the same for yourself.
• Be the best you can be. You know your capabilities, and you know when you’ve realized it.