For a long time, I thought failure had a very specific look. Big mistakes. Public embarrassment. Rock bottom moments with dramatic background music. Turns out, most of the things I panicked over weren’t actually failures at all; they were just life being mildly uncomfortable.
I used to think not having everything figured out meant I was way behind my peers. Like, there was some kind of secret adult timeline and notes that everyone got a copy of but me. Finances handled. Career locked in. Relationship stable. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there Googling things like “Is this normal?” at 3 am.
It took me a long time to realize that people are just winging it quietly and hoping that nobody asks them any follow-up questions. None of us actually knows what we’re doing. We’re just doing it.
Another big one for me is needing rest. I thought if I was tired, it just meant I wasn’t trying hard enough, and that’s stupid. Successful people are NOT immune to burnout. A day on the couch or a few hours of bed-rotting isn’t going to make or break anyone.
I thought that outgrowing people meant that I had failed at relationships. Like, why aren’t my best friends from high school still right next to me? Because I’m nowhere near high school. Neither are they. As you change, so do the people in your life. It’s part of life that your parents don’t even prepare you for.
Even being alone used to scare me. I used to feel like I had to be surrounded by people, and I just HAD to have a boyfriend for things to make sense. It turns out, I’m just fine on my own, maybe even better that way when it comes to some things.
Maybe, just maybe, you don’t have to be productive all the time. Slow seasons don’t always mean setbacks. You aren’t failing. You’re just human, doing your best to make it through life. You’re doing fine, even if it doesn’t always feel like it. Trust me…