Lifes times

It’s so incredibly easy in this day and age to look around and constantly compare ourselves to other people. We feel like we’re not where we want to be, like we’re missing out, like everyone else is more successful or happier or having more fun or that we’re being left behind. The truth is, everyone feels like this from time to time. You only see other people’s lives from the outside, looking in. You only know what people tell you about themselves – or what they post on Facebook or Instagram or on a game site... They are the editors of their own self-image, and in the modern era you can be completely deceived by the highlights that people post online. You only see the highs, not the lows.You don’t see the sadness. You don’t see the insecurity, or the self-loathing, or any sign of the internal battles that each and every one of us fights day in and day out. It’s hard not to look at other people’s lives and feel jealous and insecure about ourselves. But we don’t see the reality. We don’t see how much other people struggle, exactly like we do. We don’t see the tears, or loneliness, or the frustration. We feel these things only in ourselves, and so we feel isolated and as though the world has left us behind, when in reality we’re all exactly where we need to be.We’re all on our own timelines, living our lives the way we’re meant to. We will get to where we want to be when we’re meant to get there, no matter how long it takes. We can’t force things to turn out any particular way. What will be will be.Things never go the way we want or expect them to. No matter how hard we try to plan and structure our lives, things always seem to turn out differently.There’s no making sure everything goes according to your ideal schedule. There’s no way to make sure that you’re where you thought you wanted to be at thirty, or at forty, or any age, for that matter. There are lessons we need to learn, people we need to meet, and the experiences we need to have. Our lives unfold as they should, at their own pace and on their own timeline.You simply are where you are meant to be in the present moment, and that’s okay. It’s all part of the journey and process of life.The things we go through make us who we are. We always have the option to learn and grow from everything we experience, no matter how insignificant they may seem to be at first.Life is an art, not a science. Perfection isn’t possible or desirable. You don’t have to be like anyone else or worry about if they’re doing better than you are. You’re you, you’re unique, and you’re on your own journey – not theirs. God has a plan for you. You live according to God’s timing, something far greater than any of us could ever comprehend. You don’t know enough to worry about where you are or where you’ll be or where you’ve been. When you know that you’re here for a higher purpose, it makes no sense to compare yourselves to others, because you know that you’re part of something far, far greater than yourself. Rather than taking life too seriously and treating it like it’s a game we need to complete or a story we need to finish, we should try to relax and understand that no matter what happens, we’re all going to die eventually. When that happens, the circumstances of our lives will no longer matter. It will be irrelevant how much money we made, how many cars we owned, or how nice a house we lived in.All that will matter is the life we lived, the kind of people we were, the experiences we had and the relationships we forged with ourselves and others. We should try to enjoy life as it is, without imposing deadlines and schedules and targets upon ourselves. Time is an illusion; what we’re born to do is simply to live, rather than to stress and worry and obsess over things that just don’t matter anymore than we let ourselves think they matter.

We can’t control anything in life – only our reaction to the things that happen. All we can do is let go of our need to control everything and have things be perfect, and accept what is. Trust that God’s plan is enough, and that you don’t need to have your own limited version of a ‘perfect’ life to be happy and content.

We have to learn to let go, to take what comes and to make the most of everything. Only when we do this, when we let go of the idea that we should live up to anyone’s expectations or subjective ideas of success, can we really embrace our lived to the fullest and live the way we were supposed to; on our own timelines.