Racing the Clock to 24

This week, for 24 Before 24, it was kind of a chill week of completing things on the list. I crossed off meditating, journaling for 15 days, trying a flat white, and complimenting a stranger. I have found that it has been difficult when I am busy with my everyday life, but making time to complete some of the smaller tasks makes for a small victory in the day. Each week, trying to complete smaller tasks has made me feel accomplished. It is a good way to spark a little happiness that wasn’t there before. I am about less than 45 days out from my birthday, as far as that seems far away, time feels like it is moving so fast. 

2: Meditating 

Meditating is something that I have always wanted to get into, but never dared to try. I was sort of intimidated by it and didn’t know a ton of people who did meditation. The easiest way that I pushed myself to do this was through watching a YouTube video walk-through. 

It was awkward at first for me because I am not used to sitting and letting my mind go blank. I feel like with all the distractions in the world, I struggle the most with just turning my brain off. It was peaceful, not having any stress or worries going through my head for the duration. It allowed me to calm myself and my anxiety. 

I did enjoy meditating because of the peace it gave me. I want to make it a part of my weekly routine to start. Daily seems a little intimidating at first, and it is more realistic for me to do it weekly when I have spare time to squeeze it in. 

6: Journaling for 15 days 

When I was turning 20, I dedicated each night to journaling for at least 15 minutes before bed. It was a great way to decompress and reflect on the day. I enjoyed doing it, and now more than ever, I love reading back on the memories that I had at that age. One of them is an entry when my best friend Bridget first came to work out with our team, and how I felt about her. It is just funny to me to look back at the first impression and to see how much our friendship has grown in 3 years. 

After I turned 20, I slowly started to fade out of the habit of journaling, and it just got less and less. I wanted to commit myself again to journaling with the New Year. I’m currently on a streak of journaling for 20 days straight. It has done wonders for my stress levels because it still gives me that decompressing feeling. 

Especially, moving to a new country and having this new experience, journaling has just allowed me to keep these memories and have my real emotions down on paper. I hope that I can keep this habit up as I continue in this life. Like one day, my children will be able to read these journals and hear about my travels. 

7: Flat White 

I have had an interesting journey with coffee, to say the least. I originally always disliked coffee. The taste and smell never did it for me. I think it was just the certain ones that were in my house growing up that caused the distaste for it. Until last year, when I had a brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso from Starbucks is really when coffee became something to me. 

Ever since then, I have explored different types of coffee and seen what I like and dislike. I would say my go-to coffee is a vanilla latte, preferably with oat milk, but I also enjoy a honey latte. I have seen a flat white on menus before and got curious, but never curious enough to order. I finally did the thing and tried it at Bear Market on South Great George’s St in Dublin. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A flat white is a double shot of espresso topped with milk and a small amount of foam. I would give the flat white an 8/10, and I would order it again.  

19: Compliment a Stranger 

This one occurred without me even setting out to do it. I never wanted this one to feel forced. Forcing myself to give a compliment just didn’t sit right with me. I wanted it to come naturally and happen almost by chance. 

I was at the gym last Wednesday, and I know the gym probably isn’t the best place to give a compliment because no one wants to be interrupted during their workout. There was a girl next to me on the squat rack, and I was waiting in between my sets when I noticed she was struggling with getting the weight off the bar. I went over to help her because I would want to be helped in the same situation. 

She told me thank you after I helped her, but the whole time, I was eyeing her green striped zip-up. I personally could never pull it off because it was cropped, and with my height, sometimes the cropped situation makes it look like a toddler shirt. I did think it was cute and it looked good on her, so I just told her, “I love your jumper, it’s really cute.” 

She said her thanks, and I went back to my workout. I didn’t realise that it was something on my list until I was sitting on the bus on my way home. I was so glad that it was natural and not forced. I know how it feels to get a compliment, but giving one has the same effect.  

24 Before 24: 

1. Eat Sashimi 
2. Meditate
3. Visit Cork 
4. New Tattoo
5. New Piercing 
6. Journal for 15 days straight 
7. Try a Flat white 
8. Run 10 miles
9. Cliffs of Moher
10. Kiss the Blarney Stone
11. Move to a new country
12. Sea Swim 
13. Pilates
14. Bake and decorate a cake from scratch 
15. Go to a pop-up market 
16. Catch a flight 
17. Read 24 books 
18. Do a rope course 
19. Compliment a stranger 
20. People watch in St Stephen’s Green
21. Have a picnic 
22. Watch Forest Gump 
23. Get ice cream with a friend 
24. Go to the Cinema