It is so common to compare ourselves to family, friends or people on social media our age who are living completely different lives and think we are falling behind. If someone else has a high paying job or is starting a family and another person has just finished school and doesn’t have a boyfriend there is a tendency to question the timeline of our lives and if how we live is enough. We start wanting what others have or try to be someone we’re not.
I have had these thoughts and guarantee most everyone has at some point too. It is worth learning how to trust ourselves in order to embrace the timeline of our life as our own and hold on to the uniqueness of it. This doesn’t mean settling if we know we could challenge ourselves more or be better people, but instead removing the comparison to others.
No one is the same which should give us confidence to recognize how normal it is to be at different stages in life. It is natural to question aspects of our lives and is important for self awareness and growth, but the comparison needs to be to ourselves. We need to be curious rather than fearful.
Am I happy? What kind of person do I want to be? Do I surround myself with people I am proud to be associated with? Am I challenged enough day to day? What dream will make me the most fulfilled?
Asking ourselves these questions may be uncomfortable, but can be reassuring as long as we are willing to adjust if unsatisfied with the answers. Overtime, the goal is to live each day with the confidence to know: the timeline of our life is exactly as it should be.
Whether it is where you are living, your job, your relationship, what you are studying, etc., try to avoid applying unnecessary pressure to rush or slow down solely based on someone else’s story. Write your own. Also remember life isn’t a race. It takes you down so many paths, wrong turns and right. One day you will look back and appreciate what makes your life different in a world striving to fit amongst society’s norm.
Your life is an experience no one else gets to live and that is powerful.
Very wise. Many (like me) do not realize these truths until they are much older…
This is so helpful. Thank you for putting into words the doubts many wrestle with and the confidence to move forward excepting our unique paths.
Love it! Truly resonates