What are the goals that you must have 'achieved' by the time you're 30? When are you 'supposed' to go to uni and when are you 'supposed' to graduate?When are you 'supposed' to be on the road (literally) and have your own car? When are you 'supposed' to be married and have kids? When are you 'supposed' to own your own home?
When?
I ask all the questions above as they are the typical questions that ruminate through the mind of most adults. The most important question to ask is 'what does success mean to you?'
I'm sure that we have all heard it before that success is personal and each individual has their own definition of success. It's great to have goals and they do help in providing a focus for your life but what if the goals don't happen at the time you have 'scheduled' them to?
Ever since I was young I have unfortunately imbibed (to a degree) what society deems as 'successful', you know the standard textbook example of how life goes with regards to education, love and material objects. I would even go to the extreme of 'by a certain age I'd like to have this and that'.
If I'm to keep it all the way honest with you my life hasn't exactly panned out how I envisioned it to at the age of 22. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not a failure and that my times are in your hands (Psalm 31:15 NKJV). I also constantly remind myself that I need not look at the lives of others as a reference for comparison because we all have different life journeys. It is so easy to compare yourself to others and with social media being such a big part of our life these days it is easy to buy into the 'reality' that others want you to see. People often show the highlights on social media and rarely the low points. The funny thing is that you'd be surprised to know that other people would think that you're 'living the life' -whatever that means.
There is no cookie cutter way to how life should be. You don't have to have a family by a certain time because that is what society dictates or because your 'biological' clock is ticking. You don't have to have your life all figured out now just because you have now graduated and there is no shame in using transport for London for as long as need be until you're ready to drive. I do not for a minute believe that God is even behind what we define as success at times; more often than not we just run with what society has told us. It's a shame that there are shallow minded people that will judge you based on what you own,your achievements and where you are in life but don't let their judgement phase you. Some people mean well and their delivery is off whilst some just don't understand the concept of mind your own business and mind it well. Truth is, we cannot control what others will say to us but we are in control of how we choose to feel.
As I said before there is nothing wrong with setting goals, saving up towards them and working towards them. We have to accept however that sometime life happens and believe it or not you cannot control every single minute detail of what will come your way. If your goal does not materialise in the time frame that you set for it does it now mean that you're a failure? Of course not!
You are your only competition and you should never hold yourself hostage by comparing your progress to other people. We all have different destinies and just because it seems to be happening 'slowly' for you does not make you a failure.Trust,believe and have faith that your time will come!
So here's to working towards our goals without comparing ourself to others and also accepting that delay does not always mean denial.