How I'm Really Feeling Right Now

Can I be honest with you?

Lately I’ve been struggling with feeling like I’m doing the right thing.

Growing up, you’re in the same “life stage” as those your age. You go to junior high the same time, high school the same time, and college the same time. There’s a structured path to take and no one questions it.

I’m in my late 20s and everyone my age is no longer on the same exact path. We’re all at different points in our lives. Some of my friends are single or dating. Others are engaged or newlyweds, while some are starting to have kids or have multiple kids.

Everyone is experiencing a different life stage, and if I’m being honest, sometimes that’s really difficult for me to accept. I’m Type A, an enneagram one, whatever you’d like to call it. I like to know the rules and follow them. I like to know I’m doing the right thing and that I’m heading in the right direction. But life isn’t like that. And I struggle with this.

While social media is not entirely to blame, I think we can all agree that it can be difficult not to compare our reality with someone’s perfectly organized and aesthetic grid. There have been too many times, especially lately, where I’ve logged onto a social media platform and logged off feeling… meh.

Feeling not enough, that I’m not doing enough, that I’m not in the right “life stage,” etc. etc.

I’ve started to “mute” or unfollow accounts that tend to make me feel this way. They don’t do it on purpose, but it’s definitely better for my personal mental health.

I’m sharing all of this not to provide “10 tips for how to fix this!” or to offer yet another long, drawn out post about someone’s emotions and #firstworldproblems.

I’m sharing this because I know I’m not alone. And I bet, at some point, you have felt this too.

So while I would usually wrap up the month sharing my favorite things or all the little joys to be grateful for, I don’t want to push aside my true emotions just to appear “aesthetic” or that I “have my life together.”

Because let’s be honest, we’re all trying to do our best and there’s no such thing as a perfect, aesthetic life.

Comparison can rob us of so many great things. Joy, contentment, intention, our uniqueness.

But here’s the thing. You are uniquely you, and I am uniquely me. God created each one of us with purpose.

The life stage you are in is not a mistake.

Where you are in life is not a mistake.

His love for you does not end just because your life doesn’t look like someone else’s. In fact, that’s the whole point.

“For I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” - Psalm 139:14

“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” - Esther 4:14

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” - Psalm 138:8

Your life, where you are right now, is exactly where you need to be. I’m saying this to myself, but I’m saying it to you too.

Comparison robs us of many things and forces us to forget the joy, hope, and purpose we have in Jesus. His love never ends. He never stops pursuing. He never wavers.

Social media is temporary. That “perfect grid” is just a snapshot of a larger life that is just as perfectly imperfect as yours. I may not be where someone else is. But I’m exactly where God wants me to be, and that is all that matters to me.