Josh Samarco

Birthday blogs are cool. I don’t do them every year but I thought, hey this is my last year in my 20’s, surely I have something to say…

Recently, I was hanging out with some friends at a cool rooftop spot with some dope food. We began to talk about leaving our 20’s and what it was like for each of them. One shared, how he broke down and cried. (This made me scared. Ha!) As you can imagine, the other friend shared how it was just another day. I love hearing two ends of the spectrum, especially when both spectrums can be viewed as being extreme.

Although I am not crying, well at least while I am writing this I’m not, I am truly thankful to be alive another year. Despite some of my life goals not being accomplished yet, I believe God has me exactly where I need to be. With this perspective, I can keep living life to the best of my ability.

I want to share a few thoughts about my 20’s. Check them out below! 

Here are 29  thoughts for my 29th birthday:

1. I am almost done with my 20’s which means, I have experienced some life. Yes, wisdom!
2. Be optimistic. There is so much opportunity in your 20’s. Your life is not over because you’re not married, have a house, dream car, etc…
3. Post college can be rough! Searching for my identity, calling and what I was suppose to do post basketball. ahhhhh!!
4. Be authentic. Be real. Be you. Don’t try to copy someone else and don’t chase someone else’s dream. Go after your God driven dreams!
5. Don’t rush love. So often we want to force relationships with people that don’t need to be in our life.
6. Spend a lot of time alone. Singleness is a gift my friend. Utilize it. Grow. Learn who you are. Save money!
7. Travel. Explore the world. The most meaningful experiences happen when you travel.
8. Read. Invest in your mind and education. Every new book you read, opens a new door.
9. Cry. Too often, we hold in our anger and frustration or we take it out in the wrong way. It’s okay to lay on the ground and cry because you are frustrated with how life is going. I did!
10. Grow with God! Ask those questions about the Bible and faith that you always wanted to know. 2011 was my quest to truly understand the Bible and Christianity. This was 6 years after God saving me.
11. Give back. Invest your time in your community, spend time with youth, be a mentor or a coach. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities I have spent with youth.
12. Celebrate your friend’s success. Sometimes we get sour when one of our friends graduate college, write a book or land their dream job. Your time is coming so in the meantime be happy for your friends!
13. Attend weddings and actually be and look happy. A lot of your high school/college friends will be getting hitched. Help your friends celebrate their special day. Go to the reception and help them turn up!
14. Take time on making babies. Okay, this is my personal opinion. Kids are a major blessing to this world but I wanted to enjoy my 20’s kid free. One more year left. Fingers crossed! Ha
15. Exercise! Stay consistent! Trust me, once collegiate/professional sports are over, the lbs will come if you are not consistently working out.
16. Eat! Ha, you like how I added this one after exercise. Try out different food from different ethnic groups. Step away from the fast food. 🙂
17. Write. Journal. Start a blog. Keep a record of great moments and bad moments. It always helps me to look back and reflect.
18. Pray. If you are a believer, spend a lot of time talking with God. Me and God had to duke (fight) it out! God and I had some amazing, tough and challenging conversations through my 20’s. I am thankful for each conversation.
19. Step out your comfort zone. Do something you are afraid to do. Move to a new state, or two. 🙂 Once you do, you will slap yourself afterwards and realize it wasn’t that scary after all.
20. Love. Love every person in your life unconditionally.
21. Forgive. Your heart will be broken. You will hurt people. Learn. Let go. Don’t hold grudges or regrets.
22. Eat chocolate. Chocolate does the body, mind and soul good. It also cures bad days. Just saying…
23. Drink coffee. 2012, I discovered a hidden love for coffee. My favorite drink is a cafe mocha with foam and an extra shot of expresso!
24. Find patience. Your time in your 20’s is a long journey. Don’t try to become an overnight success.
25. Progress not perfection. Give your all but ultimately understand your goal is to enjoy the process while making progress.
26. Give yourself grace. You will make mistakes and you will make poor decisions. Learn from your choices and love yourself enough to move forward.
27. Date/Court. Do this in healthy ways and be intentional about who you give your time and energy too. Oh yeah, money too. Dating is expensive. Isn’t it funny how, women get all the free dates and food? 🙂 
28. Don’t do life alone. Find accountability, encouragement and support. You need a community that you can do life with.
29. Celebrate! You need to celebrate your small victories. Remember to write your celebrations down so when you get discouraged, you can go back and get recharged!

Whew! I hope you enjoyed that list. 20’s are truly a great time. To me, much of life is about perspective, learning and growing. As you can see, the past 9 years of my life, I have done that!

I appreciate you. Let’s continue to get better together! Real talk! < – (Do people still say this? Ha! I did in my early 20’s!!) 

P.S. August 21st is my birthday. I do accept gifts….

Peace out fam! Share this with a friend!