The feeling of us feeling behind is one that each and everyone of us have felt at one point in time in our life or another and to be honest, even though many of us chose not to talk about it, it's still has been part of our thoughts at one point in time and the reason for it isn't always farfetched, take for instance this thought could come as a result of seeing someone around you do amazing things that makes you feel less, for instance buying a car, building their own house, getting married and having a child or even building a successful career, all of these when seen can make you sit down to think deeply about what you've been doing with your life and if you've been doing something the wrong way to not have achieved these things yourself.
Personally, it could be as simple as me login to my Facebook and my sight got graced many or friend or a complete stranger that's celebrating one milestone or achievement, that's makes me begin to wonder if I've been taking the right steps in my life, because the truth is that whenever we're in such state, the next thing is that our own progress will seem as though it's small or stall in one position. Unlike many who usually denies having this feeling, I don't, and through the years I've come to understand that comparing my life and someone elses own isn't the way to go and that's because we've different journeys behind and ahead of us.
And the fact that this other people are achieving things doesn't mean we're not doing well for ourselves, and sometimes those people celebrating could even come at a time when we're on our own path to success and if we dwell to much on comparison, we might get to entangled in it to the point where we'll lose our focus and start chasing someone else's path. Another thing I've come to realise is that we often only compare their results with ourselves, but neglect the journey that brought them there, which is a combination of preparation, sacrifices, failure and relentless grinding to face challenges.
What has helped me sail through the effect of this thought clouding my mind is understandable that life doesn't have one timetable, it does mean because Mr A achieve something at 30, so I myself must do same, and neither does it mean because one person achieved something at a younger age, then it means they're more successful. Our path are different and so is our journey and because someone something younger doesn't mean you're not serious with your life, they only grab their own opportunity when it surfaced, when yours comes you must be fully focus and not be clouded by thought that'll refrain you from walking in your own path to success.
How I usually dealt with such thought is quite simple, and it's my making it a point of duty to focus on my own progress, rather that wallow in comparison, what matters to me is knowing that I'm better now than I was yesterday, once there's a clear progressive difference from my yesterday self compared to my present self, then I obviously have something to be grateful for.
The truth is that comparison isn't entirely bad, it could be the driving force that stare you towards your next progress, what matters is how you approach and handle it's. Afterall, I know myself and know there are lots of things I still want to achieve in life and pretending to be pleased with my current state won't make me achieve them, so to bring those desire to realise, I'm in the process of learning to appreciate my journey, while still working towards where I want to be.
All photos are generated using ChatGpt.