Tears are streaming down your face as the rain pumps heavily on your roof. It's one of those solemn nights when the wind howls mercilessly. You are sad and solemn. Your face is tight from the crying. You feel like you should be backpacking through South East Asia with a smile on your face and a spring in your step. With no care in the world. You crave freedom and autonomy but yet, you are stuck in a job you hate slowly convincing yourself that staying put is better.
That was me in December 2015. I was sad and I felt like the world owed me something. The world owed me a house, a job and a brimming bank account. And boy didn't I fall head first and that mentality changed. Nairobi (The city I live in ) showed me that no one owed me anything. Story for another day.
There are just times you feel like you are not making any headway in life. Everyone seems to have everything you do not. People seem to have their lives together. We have all felt like that in our lives.
For me, this feeling became so strong especially in the age of social media. I was such a fan of Instagram and I would be logging in like 10 times a day. What I did not realize is that the highlight reels of people's lives were making me feel like my life was sh** I would ask myself questions like, "Jean, What are you even doing with your life?"
I was going through that in late 2015 and to be honest, the feeling creeps up time and time again but I learned how to quell it. Everytime I feel like that, I remind myself these simple truths.
1. Things are not what they always seem to be
People do not have everything figured out. Social media has a way of showing us the best parts of people's lives and sadly, we only learn to focus on those truths and we obsess asking ourselves why we are not like that. I rarely log in online to check up on people's lives. Never! I do that to take care of my clients' social media accounts, post my brands' content and I am out.
2. Don't compare your chapter one to people's chapter seven.
Everyone has their own path. Focus on your life and know that we cannot all be the same.
3. Water your own grass
So much starts to happen when you believe in your own potential and start working on yourself. The grass is green where you water it. Try and invest in yourself, cut out all the noise and see.
4. Every expert was once an amateur.
Even if today is the first day of working towards your goals, do not feel discouraged. Take the first step. dare to be consistent and keep at it. Your future self will thank you for trying.
5. Trust the timing of your life and do things at the time you think works for you.
Do not subscribe to the talk about" You need to do this by this age"
A degree at 35 is still a degree.
A baby at 35 is still a blessing.
A wedding at 40 is still a wedding.
Buying a house at 40 is still a boss move.
Don't let people rush/ discredit you with their timelines.
Have a great week! Focus on YOU.