Reader question: Why do I feel so behind in life?
“I feel behind in life, especially in comparison with my friends, how do I handle these feelings?”
– anonymous
The million-dollar question which most of us have felt at one point in our life comes from one problem… comparison.
In fact, the moment you begin comparing yourself to others around you, there’s this intense “feedback loop,” the brain goes into and then, well, there you are, feeling worse than you did about an hour ago.
Further, you punish yourself for feeling mad and then boom, you’re even more upset.
Social media and your ego.
Critically, we find ourselves on social media… At least that portion is relatable to myself.
For example, having a chronic disease (which ever that may be) can be such a burden. The fact of the matter is, we see our family, friends, and even stranger friends “doing all these great things.”
Meanwhile, we are stuck in a body that doesn’t want to function the way you’d wish.
The important question here is, what are you doing? Never, ‘what are my friends doing, god, I wish I had that life.’
And it doesn’t just stop on social media, people have felt this way with reality television, watching the news, or other triggers.
It’s time to reflect.
Primarily, it’s time to focus on the things you’ve achieved, the things that bring you happiness.
Regardless, what you’re facing, you still achieve things throughout the day, and for your current situation (again, whatever it might be), well, you’re a warrior because you are facing something that can keep you knocked down on the floor.
Instead, you get up every day, take a shower, eat, and somehow end up on this very page.
That stranger friend is called trying and it’s a huge achievement.
Feeling behind in life.
As the years pass we are going to see our old friends doing great things and you might be wondering why your life hasn’t taken the right route yet.
Guess what?
That’s okay, as you reflect on the good things you’ve done in life, you’ll come to find that feeling behind will slowly dissipate, and it will be replaced with a feeling of ‘I’m so proud of my friend.”
The moment we stop comparing ourselves to other people is the moment we begin to massively grow into the person we are meant to be, you just have to trust yourself, and never give up on your goals.
Patience, patience, and more patience.
Of course, it’s much easier said than done so having patience with yourself will be key.
After all, all goals take time, all growth takes trial and error, and all good things come by taking action, never by chance.
Truthfully, you will have some anxiety, and you might feel powerless but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
At the end of the day, you’re not behind, you’re just taking your very own route.
Blessed be!
