Seniors everywhere are now entering into their graduation year. AHHHH!!!! It is to be a bittersweet year filled with excitement and anticipation; firsts and lasts; the familiar and the unknown; letting go and new beginnings. What is the best way to navigate what is next?

Team 2019 and I recently got together for a New Year’s Shoot. They dressed up to welcome in their Graduation Year, and we celebrated their friendships.

So as I share my favorite images from that day, I want to share 6 things I wish I had kept closer to my heart when I was 18. If I am honest, these are 6 things I have to choose EVERY day of EVERY year, and my High School Graduation Year was a LOONNNNGGG time ago.

Anyway, I am a believer, and so many of these words of wisdom are really scripture based… but I hope non-believers will find benefit from reading them too!

1. Your Worth Isn’t Found in What you Accomplish

We have a God-shaped hole in our soul which can only be filled with his presence. Our search for significance shouldn’t begin and end with our checklist of life goals. My advice to you is this: set goals, and work hard toward them, but remember the things you do don’t define who you are. If you find yourself questioning, “am I good enough?” The answer is yes. You may not always reach the goals you set, but you are always shaped by your experiences, and your experiences shape your testimony. Your experiences equip you for what is next. Even when God’s answer is no, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t enough. If means you are meant for a different path. Achieving those goals won’t fill that space in our soul, and won’t give you peace looking into the unknown. Knowing him can.

2. Perform Random Acts of Kindness, Sometimes in Secret

Do you ever hear a little voice in your head telling you to do or say something kind to someone else? Listen to it. Act on it. Sometimes that little gesture will be exactly what that person needed at that exact time. I like to call them “God Winks,” and being responsible for those random acts of kindness feels just as good as being the one who receives it. But I want to encourage you to take it a step further. If you are given the chance to do something good WITHOUT taking public credit for it, do that too. There is beauty in quiet grace, and the reward for that is more significant than the pat on the back we feel when other people tell us we’ve done good job.

3. Forgive, Even When They They Don’t Deserve it

This is a tough one. Many, many times my prayer has had to be to WANT to forgive wayyy before I can actually get to a place of letting go. There is something that we think feels good about holding on to a grudge. We think our anger and resentment serves the person who wronged us right… they deserve it. And maybe they DO. But wiser people than me have said, “Holding on to resentment is like holding on to a hot coal with the intention of throwing it at someone else. Ultimately, you are the one who gets burned.”

So, make the conscious decision to let wrongs go. Sometimes we have to make that decision more than once, and that is ok. Forgiving someone for hurting us doesn’t take away their responsibility, and it doesn’t take away the fact that we have been wronged… but it does free us from living with the heavy burden of bitter thoughts.

And then we should ask for forgiveness. “WHAT???? I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG!” Maybe so, but more often than not, bad situations aren’t really all one-sided. I am the QUEEN of justifying why I am right… but if I am honest, often I have a hand in the situation too. When I don’t acknowledge that, and seek to correct it, I won’t grow.

4. Be Transparent and Trustworthy

We all try to present our best selves to the outside world. All of us have our dark sides. Nobody is perfect, so why would we pretend to be? It is a choice to be transparent. It is a choice to be honest. It is a choice to do what we say we will do. If we find that we are a different person showing different values depending on who we are around, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate both ourselves and who we choose to surround ourselves with. So let’s make our mistakes, but let’s own them. Let’s make sure that what we say in secret is what we would say in public. And let’s be the person that we would choose to trust when we are in need.

5. Choose Joy

Life sucks sometimes. Things happen all the time that we don’t deserve or that hurt us deeply. We can choose to live in the disappointment, or we can choose to keep walking, one step at a time. Even in the darkest times, if we look around, there are little blessings. Even in our deepest despair, we are given a ray of light. Let’s train our eyes to look for the light.

6. Don’t Worry

I know we have all heard this, but what does worrying about ANYTHING actually DO? Nothing. It does nothing. So if something stressful is on your mind, use it as a reminder to pray about it. Talk to trusted family or friends, and then control the things you can control. Other than that, make the choice to let go, be kind, and look for the hidden blessing. It’s there, I promise.

Dang, this New Year’s post turned DEEP! Just know that as I write it, I am speaking to myself as much as I am speaking to each of you. And know that as I write this, I am wishing you much happiness and peace in the New Year.

To my Seniors… go into your graduation year knowing you are well loved and highly valued!

XOXO,

Lymarie

PS This shoot with Team 2019 was SO MUCH FUN! If you are a rising Senior who wants to know more about the LPJ Photography Senior Experience, shoot me a message by clicking here. It’s NOT too early! Team 2020 Applications go live in January 2019!!