Before you feel that pressure, read this...
When I was a boy, I thought I will be on the same pace with my friends as we grew up. I thought we will graduate from high school together, gain admission into tertiary institutions same year, and graduate same period. I thought we will all hit our career jobs immediately after graduation, and probably have families within same period of time. I thought our timelines as age group should fit and life treat us equally. But here is the reality, the real life.
Yes, the reality is that some of my friends dropped out of school and so didn't finish like the others. Some are married now while others are struggling to fix their lives. Some are climbing the ladder of their careers while others are fighting for Entry-level into their career jobs. Some have become CEO of their own companies while others are yet to be employed.
WHAT IS MY POINT? Life is not what you think it is, and everything in our lives are subject to time and unforeseen occurrences. Again, everything in our lives happens according to our time, our clock. So, before you feel that pressure, before you feel the pressure that you are going nowhere in life, before you feel pressured with the timeline of others, take a deep breath and know this today. My approach to life failed me because as a boy I failed to understand that I and my friends have different times, different clocks.
I share the sentiments of Jay Shettey who made an observation that I share and that you too must have observed. That observation is that there are people who graduated at 21 and didn't get a job until they were 27 while there are others who graduated at late 25 and got job immediately after graduating. There are people who never went to university but found what they love at 18. There are people who found a job straight out of college, making decent money, but didn't like what they do. There are others too who took gap years and found their purpose. I know of people too who were so sure about what they were going to do at 16 only to change their minds at 24. I know of people who have Children but are still single while there are others who are married but had to wait 10-12 years to have children. I know of people in relationships who love someone else while there are others who love each other but aren't together. Indeed, Life is not what you think it is, and everything in our life happens according to our time, our clock. You may look at some of your friends and think they are ahead of you, maybe some others you feel are behind you, but the truth is that everything happens at their own pace. They have their own clock and so do you. Please be patient.
At age 25, Mark Cuban was a bartender in Dallas whereas, It took till 32 for J.K Rowling to be published for Harry Potter after been rejected by 12 publishers. Ortega launched Zara when he was 35 while Jack MA started Alibaba when he was 35. Morgan Freeman got his big break at 52 while Steve Carell got his after 40 years old. Virgin was started by Richard Branson at 34.
Hence, getting your degree after 25 is still an achievement. Not been married at 30 but still happy is beautiful. Starting a family after 35 is still possible, and buying a house after 40 is still great. Don't let anyone rush you with their timelines because as Albert Einstein said "not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that is counted truly counts".
Everyone is running their own race in their own time. We don’t have to envy those who are already successful nor mock those who haven't won yet since we all are in our time zones.
LIFE is about aiming at the right moment to ACT! So, stay CALM and RELAX. You’re not LATE and You’re not EARLY, You’re very much ON TIME, and in your TIME ZONE!
