“I think people are drawn to joyful people, so I started thinking about the people I know who are really joyful. It wasn’t a selfish thing or something I was doing for me. It was more about making sure I do those things that can make other people feel joyful and happy.”

“For some reason, 28 was always that age for me. I always said that when I’m 28, I’ll have this great life and everything will be figured out. Then when I turned 28 last January, it was like woah… I wasn’t where I thought I’d be. I was disappointed. I really was. But then I asked myself why. Why do I feel that way? I have a great family, they’re all healthy, I’m healthy. I started to reflect on all of the things I should be grateful for at 28. I’m good with it now. ”

“I would love to be married and have a family someday, but I’m at a point of accepting that it will happen when it happens. I just want to be happy with myself with or without that.”

“When everything first shut down, I realized I was so exhausted. I couldn’t go anywhere, barely saw my family for the first several weeks. It was just me, and it was really hard. I had been travelling a ton for work, and there were some fun trips at the beginning of the year.

I never took the time to rest and take care of myself. But once I had all that time, I realized that I was feeling great. I didn’t even realize how bad I felt before.”

“This year has been a big catalyst for self-reflection. What do I need to do to make myself happy instead of worrying about making other people happy or worrying what they think? I still a struggle some days, but it’s getting better.”