Don't let the internet, your peers, parents or community rush you.
One of the biggest myths people obsess over is that they are supposed to achieve certain milestones by a particular age - these factors are completely irrelevant.
Have you ever had those moments where you are scrolling let's say Instagram and you come across someone who is seemingly younger than you and they are "already" thriving in their life.
Maybe you follow an old friend from high school who's "got it all"; the education, "the one", the house, the kids, the job and promotion, the holiday vacations, cars, time, money and great health.
Sometimes culture tries to convinces us of "the right way" and we measure ourselves up against societal norms, but such self-assessment does nothing but rob our joy and our ability to be present.
From a young age it feels like society and our communities ingrains in us the supposed ‘timeline’ of our life. This supposed timeline that many of us unknowingly hold in our minds, can make you feel like you’ve failed at your own life if you haven’t reached the goals society expects that you should have reached at a certain age.
It can feel quite isolating and exhausting trying to live up to other people’s ideas of what you should be doing, or what you should have already done in your life, especially since they have no idea about your life and what it’s like.
And just as they may have no idea what our life is like, you may have no idea about their lives either.
Remind yourself that everybody’s story is different, we all face different experiences, relationships and opportunities in our lives. Everyone is different and our timelines will always be unique.
Endlessly comparing ourselves to others and idealizing their best qualities while underestimating our own are self-defeating behaviors, and will hurt our self-esteem. Yet in the competitive nature of our world, many of us do this.
I know it’s human nature to compare so I won’t ask you to stop comparing yourselves to others, but when you do or if you do, take the time to think about how your story and life might be different to theirs, think about everything you’ve had to overcome to get to where you are today.
Just because we may not have the exact opportunities, or be ready to fulfil our life goals immediately doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. It just means that it may happen at a different time for you than others, and that’s okay. We are all running exactly on time for our own lives.
You’re not behind in life. There’s no schedule or timetable that we all must follow. It’s all made up. Wherever you are right now is exactly where you need to be. - Emily Maroutian
There are a lot of reasons we can convince ourselves that we are behind in life. But being “behind” is not real.
Life is not a race or a competition. And there is no one correct way to live any life. We are simply where we are.