You will get there.

I see everyday of people my age upset because they feel like they should be further in life than they are. They want to have figured out their entire life because they think everyone else has. They’ve seen the pictures of people settling down and starting families and the posts about people landing jobs in their chosen career paths and now they are scared. They don’t know why they haven’t gotten those things yet, and it isn’t really clear why they want to be where that other person is so badly, but all I know is that they do. To be totally honest I have to catch myself from making that same mistake. Recently I saw a friend of mine from middle school post that she was engaged and my immediate thought was, “Why haven’t I gotten engaged yet?” But of course I stopped those thoughts right in their tracks. Why? Because they are life hindering.

Those kinds of thoughts make you do one of three things. They either make you aspire for a life that you aren’t even sure you’re ready to live, they make you become a person that isn’t truly you, or they make you stop everything you are doing and make you feel sorry for yourself. People need to realize that you aren’t at that point in your life yet simply because that wasn’t the path meant for you. I am a firm believer that we have our own paths that all lead to our own personal happiness. We will all eventually get there, but it will be in millions of different ways. My path to happiness will not be the same as say, that friend I just saw got engaged.

But I will get there.

What mind boggles me is that people expect that the same process that worked for one person, will always work for someone else. The reality of it is, that’s not always the case. In fact, you and a friend are way more likely to jump through many different hurdles just to get to the same place. Crazy? I have no stats on that, just personal experiences. For example, I have a best friend named Jason who went to our local community college right out of high school. He knew from the get go what he could afford and what would help him succeed. Me, being the stubborn dream chaser that I am, also ended up at that same local community college. However, I first went to a different college, couldn’t afford it, and flunked out. (True story) But guess what? Although I am a semester behind, we are still at the same point in our lives, attending school and figuring it all out.

Life is not a competition.

Instead of wishing you were at the same point as someone else, wish them well, and continue to be happy about what you have accomplished in your own life.

You’ve come a long way, and although you may not be doing what other people are doing or at the same stage in your life as your friends, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It just means that you’ve chosen a different path. Enjoy your time traveling down it.