Day 18

Me: “What advice would you give to your younger self?”

Irina: “Don’t let any kind of idea, or religion, or dogma overcome your humanity – your feeling of human brotherhood or compassion towards others. Whatever they tell you, whatever the cause, it doesn’t matter. Just trust your own heart. If you have compassion for someone, never overstep your boundaries.

Don’t let yourself be dominated by others. Even though it’s easier sometimes when somebody else makes decisions for you and you just follow…and you think they are smart and figuring everything out for you, but it can end up being a disaster. So better make your own stupid, false, teenie, tiny decisions which can build you up into a person who can be independent and just live this life as your own person.

Also, never play with feelings of other people and hurt them. Never pretend that you’re in love or don’t feel bad if you don’t have feelings. Never give false hope, just be honest.

And lastly, don’t let anger take over. I wish I had known that I had the power of will to not allow anger to consume me when I was younger. I am still friends with people I was angry with, but unfortunately, it negatively impacted my health because I held onto it for too long.”