relax - things take time

    I've spent so much of my life in go-go-go mode. It was always this project and the next, this challenge and the next, this step and the next, balancing tens of projects and tens of courses... never feeling like what I was doing was enough.

    With the growth of social media and the online presence of the younger generation, whether in professional spheres like Linkedin or on socials like Instagram, comparison is rampant. Especially in a young mind, so easily influenced by what we see and do, it's so easy to fall into the never-ending hole of seeing what someone else is doing and immediately feeling as though we are behind because we did not do something similar. Thus begins a new cycle of starting something new, feeling behind, adding another task to the already heavy plate, and wondering, when will it be enough?

    Media today has also enforced the declining attention spans of youth, and an under appreciation for time and compound growth. Stopping and smelling the roses? Nope, more like trampling the roses on the way to another quest for greatness. Over time, however, you realize those roses were what was important all along. The small wins. That amazing meal you had. The touching conversation you had with a stranger. The last time you had dinner with your grandparents. The time you laughed until you couldn't breathe in that high school english class. Reading that book that brought you to tears.

    But it isn't advancing me to my goal. It's easy to get stuck in a rut, to get stuck at each step on the path to success rater than taking a step back to look at the bigger picture. What do you want at the end of the day? Are you truly on the path to happiness, or blind achievement? Why do you feel it needs to happen immediately?

    "Are you really behind, or are you playing a never-ending game of catch up with people you don't even know?"

    That's what my mentor asked me once at a robotics meeting where I had broken down in tears because I felt that I wasn't contributing enough my team.

    That really snapped me out of it. What was I running towards? I had to take a look at everything I had dumped on my plate at once that year and reflect on how it was actually contributing to my goals in life - if at all. I realized I was trying to speedrun my way to "success," thinking it would bring me happiness to get there as fast as possible. I needed this project done asap, this challenge completed the next day, this role the next, and this award gained the next.

    Sometimes, all you need to do is take a deep breath. Even Oprah's career didn't take off until she was about 30, hosting her own show in Chicago. Who are we to say that every goal of ours needs to be completed before we turn 25? 

    Achieving your goals is achieving your goals regardless of when it occurs.

    Be passionate, feel determination and commitment and desire and all these amazing, driving feelings. But remember to take a periodic step back and remind yourself that the best things in life come with time, and aren't automatic.

    Everyone is on their own timeline. Just because this person founded their company in highschool, doesn't make them any less successful than someone who waited longer, prepared longer, and gathered more information before starting theirs. Same goes for going to a school. Getting a job. Having that desired relationship. Finding your passion.

    One of the biggest questions we humans spend our time trying to answer is what is my passion? Passion is not immediate. It isn't made-up. It can't be predicted. It doesn't reveal itself at the same time for anyone. It's discovered at the right moment in your life for you. There are lessons you need to learn, people you need to meet, experiences you need to have, and a world you need to see before finding this out. It's all trial and error and experience - that's what life is about.

    So take that break. Take that vacation. Take time to reflect and journal and read and explore the various nooks and crannies of your mind. Let yourself dive deep into the interests that your mind pulls you towards. Follow your own path.

    You are worthy just because you are here. And so is everyone else.

    Relax. Things take time. You are right where you need to be.

Signing off,

just a girl who wishes someone had told her this earlier,

nexisphere