“I should be somebody by now, not just some poor girl working every day at a lackluster job, struggling to get by.”
Ever thought that? I’ve wasted countless hours moping about my life and worrying about what I should be doing. I didn’t have a desire since childhood to be a doctor or teacher to direct my steps. I had no grand scheme to help people by becoming a lawyer or a worker in a refugee camp. I was never ambitious, and I enjoy so many different things that the advice to “do what you enjoy” didn’t really narrow things down for me. If I chose one subject, another love would rear its head and say “What about me? Don’t you love me too? You know you’d be happier with me.”
The result was many wasted years and wasted opportunities. Or maybe the years weren’t wasted. I still enjoyed friendships and helped people in small ways. I learned a lot about myself and, now, finally, have a sense of direction for a career path. So, though I seemed to have spent my twenties in a holding pattern, perhaps I was learning and making small, almost unperceivable, but necessary, steps in the right direction.
The article “5 Lies Every Twentysomething Needs to Stop Believing” from Revelant Magazine reminded me that I’m not the only young adult struggling, that the twenties aren’t usually the decades for success. Success takes time and preparation and probably some failure for redirection. Even Jesus didn’t start his ministry until his thirties (this alone makes me feel so much better, as well as motivated since I’m close to the big 3-0). As the article says, “If you take one step towards your dream today, you are a success. Success happens in the details.”
So, to myself and any friends frustrated from a lack of success, remember you’re not alone, that you’ve got time. Just keep on moving forward. After all, “failure is not a period, it’s a comma. And only if you stop trying will you really fail.”