I have always been one to feel like if I didn’t do enough I would regret it. I take on many new challenges, I try to join as many clubs/organizations as I can, and I take on full course loads. I am also always yearning to be where I am not; I always want to get to the next step, the next career, and the next vacation destination. I fear missing out on opportunities, memories and chances. I don’t want to ever get to a point in my life where I feel I didn’t do enough. While this fear has propelled me to move fast and efficiently through an academic and professional career, I also realize that I am doing the exact thing I am trying to avoid. Here’s what I have learned about the fear of being good enough to make it to where you want to be:
It’s okay to not be where you want to be right now.
You don’t have to be exactly where you want to be. You don’t always have to be working the perfect job or have everything figured out. It is completely acceptable to not know what your plans are for the next five years, or even the next five hours, just go with it. Become comfortable with where you are and eventually you will get to where you are meant to be. For now, just enjoy being young, take the opportunities that present themselves and learn to embrace uncertainty.
Life is built in the small details, not in the grand accomplishments.
Life and adventure don't have to be found on a grand scale. Happiness can be in the small details that make up your days. In the car ride to work when the perfect song comes on and you sing ridiculously loud just because you can. In the day you spend getting lost with the perfect person beside you. It’s in last minute runs to Starbucks with your roommates because you are procrastinating responsibilities. It’s the phone call you get from you sibling to tell you about their day. It’s the perfect story that you aren’t sure you want to share with your parents. It’s in the people that you love, the friends you surround
Don’t forget how far you have come in your journey to get where you want to be
Sometimes it can feel like you are going nowhere. All of the coursework, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, planning, and goal setting can become suffocating. It starts to feel like you’ll never make it out of the water, and you're just wishing someone would throw you a lifeline and pull you to shore. In this struggle for air, look back at the start line and see how far you have come. You have made it this far, and I promise, you are doing better than you think.
If you are scared that you will never make it to the finish line, and you're not sure how you can make it to the final goal, you just need to realize one thing:
