The Case of the Twenty Five Year Old Me
If there is one big difference between my twenty year old self and all the ones that preceded it was that the former seemed to weigh things more. It’s not that I did not bother thinking before. As any of my friends, my parents, my brother and probably even my neighbors can attest to: I have always been the spontaneous kind.
This statement applied to virtually every decision I have made in my life. I seem to have fully lived
Malcolm Gladwell’s theory of “Blink”
where he values a human being’s ability to judge in a snap. All my life, my choices on what to study, what book to read, what course to take, who to make friends with, and many more were based on how I felt about certain things in the span of two seconds. I don’t regret any of those. In fact, I am proud to have made those decisions and turned out the way I am now. Adding another year into my calendar seemed to change all of that, though.
One of the best lessons I’ve learned since turning 25
has been about thinking things through
. I do not act upon gut feel now {though needless to say, it’s still a big consideration}. My shopping habits have changed drastically since: I have been thinking twice about every single purchase --- an imaginary pros and cons column appear in time every time I’m at the till. I have outlined a spending plan for myself at the beginning of the year so it wouldn’t come as a shock when there are inevitable expenses. Every new acquisition {a term I lovingly call my newly bought shoes, clothes and books} has a detailed ROI behind it, especially big ticket items that go into the debit column of my checkbook.
The same principle has been applied to my personal life: I am now keeping knee jerk reactions at bay. Doing this has done me a whole world of good since I no longer offend people unintentionally with my I-thought-they-were-witty quips. Before, I had a mouth that was quicker than my mind, as my friend R would say. Most of those little accidents have been funnier than annoying but embarrassing enough as I catch myself every time, foot in mouth.
Now that I am two quarters into my quarter of a lifetime, thinking twice has proven to be of immense benefit. When I think twice about a purchase I might regret the morning after, more money goes into my mutual fund account. When I think {twice, if I may add} if I’d rather read a book or throw my time away lounging around Facebook, I learn something new instead of just playing games that I have nothing to show for after. When I am down and contemplating on understanding my “feelings” and letting it take over for two hours, I think again and decide that it’s not doing any good for my well-being so I just do something productive like write blog posts. When there are ultimate, life-changing decisions that need to be made, I think again and many times, I thank heavens that I did, having saved myself from preconceived hurt and frustrations.
Of late, one of the minor but quite important changes I have made in my slew of products is switching to
Charmee feminine pads
for my red days and pantyliners for more frequent use. Aside from the fact that this brand is rather more economical {a girl’s gotta save wherever she can!}, I like it that it has the
Lavender,
and
Green Tea
scents of which I am a huge fan of. The
Unscented
variant works for me when I’m feeling less girly, but is nevertheless fun. The breathable cover makes it a fresh pad to use, so I don’t have to worry about it feeling icky because of this unbearable weather. One would think that a change in pads is not exactly life altering but hey, if there’s one thing, it’s the little things that count.
It’s only been a few months that I’ve embraced this whole thinking twice strategy but already, I’ve been reaping colossal benefits!
I used to be scared silly of growing old but hey, if growing old means making more mature choices and getting fringe benefits at the same time, then I’d say:
Bring it on!
How about you? Are you a think-twice girl? Tell me!
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