I call it the drama. That was the funny thing about being 20-something. The drama associated with being twenty and trying to prove yourself and make everyone else happy. You have to grow out of it. You have to develop the ability to teach people how to treat you. It’s how you treat yourself – you have to value and honor yourself or no one else is going to do it. You don’t choose your family but you can choose the other people that you have in your life. It doesn’t matter if you had a bad start. You are going to be more powerful if you make good choices now. You can create the life you want through the choices you make with your health, with your friends, with your job.
A big part of that is knowing yourself, being true to yourself and not just being in this relationship because the guy looks right on the surface or that friendship because it has benefits. It’s being in touch with how you feel. For me, that happens through meditation. I think that it’s different for everybody. Some people do it through exercise. It’s taking the time…which is hard to do in your twenties when you are always moving on to the next thing or worrying about what is next. It takes connecting with yourself on a daily basis. That can translate to knowing your body, embracing your sexuality, not being afraid, knowing who you are and that’s hard. I think you know yourself at twenty but you have to give yourself time and space to grow and change.- 40-something, art gallery owner, LA