Honestly, there was a time in my life when I kept comparing myself with people who were my age. I would look at them and see how far they had gone in life, the things they had achieved, and how things seemed to be working out for them.
Then I would look at myself and start wondering what I was doing wrong.Sometimes, it hurt more than I could explain. I would sit alone in the corner of my room and cry, asking myself why my own life was different. I kept wondering when things would get better for me and when I would also have something to be happy about.
It was painful watching people around me make progress while I felt like I was still trying to figure out my life.The funny thing is that I knew everyone had their own struggles, but at that moment, it was difficult to see beyond what was happening in my own life.
I was so focused on what other people had achieved that I forgot to appreciate myself. I forgot that I was also trying, even if my efforts were not producing the results I wanted at that time.
As time went on, I started to understand something important, everybody has their own timeline, and life does not happen the same way for everyone. Just because someone my age has achieved something I am still hoping for does not mean I have failed. It simply means our journeys are different.
Accepting this was not something that happened overnight. I had to learn to stop putting so much pressure on myself. I had to understand that I could not force life to happen according to my expectations.
Some things surely take time, and sometimes, we need to be patient with ourselves even when we feel tired of waiting. When I finally started accepting my life as it was, things began to change for me, I became more peaceful with myself. I stopped seeing other people's progress as a reason to feel bad about my own situation, instead of asking why I was not where they were, I started focusing on what I could do with what I had.
I also learnt that there is nothing wrong with being happy for someone else. If a friend or someone my age achieves something good, I can celebrate with them without feeling like I have lost my own chance. Their success does not mean that my own dreams will never come true, we can all have good things happen to us, even if they happen at different times.
I am still learning, and I know there may be days when I will feel discouraged again. Life is not always easy, and sometimes, it is difficult not to compare ourselves with the people around us. But I keep reminding myself that I have my own journey to live, and I do not need to rush just because someone else seems to be moving faster.
One thing I have come to appreciate is that progress is not always about having big achievements to show people. Sometimes, progress is simply getting through a difficult period, learning to love yourself a little more, or finding the strength to keep going when things are not working out as planned.
Looking back, I realise that comparing my life with others only made me unhappy. It made me forget that my life also has value, even when things are not going the way I want. Learning to accept myself and my journey has given me a different way of looking at life. My advice to anyone going through the same thing is please, do not be too hard on yourself.
It is okay if you have not achieved everything you hoped to achieve by now. It is okay if your journey looks different from that of your friends or people your age. Keep trying, keep learning, and give yourself time, we are all moving at different speeds, and that is okay, you do not have to be ahead of someone else to prove that your life is going somewhere.
Sometimes, the most important thing you can do for yourself is to stop comparing, accept where you are, and keep believing that things can get better.After all, everybody has their own timeline. When I finally accepted that, everything changed for me.
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