How Can I Catch Up to Others?

Such a cold and grey day today! I have to say, I can’t wait for summer; or at least those beautiful, bright, and sunny days that are yet to come in abundance. I can’t wait to wake up by the ever so delicate sun rays piercing through the corners of the bedroom curtains. As I sit here writing and imagining this, I can see the wind violently shaking the trees even more than before. I have to wait! That’s the truth that I find so hard to accept. It seems difficult and pointless now; I can just get in a car or plane and go somewhere where summer never seizes to warm people’s hearts and lives, and still, I choose to stay here and wait for my own sunny days. I know that no matter how long I wait, the day that I will get to wake up to the birds chirping to a clear and sunny sky, I will be the person with the biggest smile in the county. The gratification that I will get from having waited will be ever so fulfilling!

After having painted this picture for this very abstract concept, I believe that the same happens with life. Let me explain further; letting things take their own time, and not interfering to speed them up (or slow them down) will help us enjoy whatever it is it’s coming our way. Life has its ‘phases’ for a reason; even psychologically and biologically speaking, we are able to endure and overcome different challenges at different ages. We often tend to rush into things we like, while neglecting things we don’t like. Well, a year is not sunny every day, no matter where you live; there are those days where clouds conquer the sky. Just the same, life cannot only have happy times and we cannot always have what we want at the time we want it. But, believe me, when the proper time comes that we finally get what we have been waiting for, the feeling will be even better than we could have anticipated.

Nowadays, the young generation of our society tends to ‘grow up’ earlier than necessary. The idea (illusion, I must say) that being grown up, while still being a child/teen, will make them happier, pushes the young towards wrong decisions and tough consequences. While trying to act and appear grown, children will be children, and they will get hurt by not being able to face the difficulties that are not meant for them to face at an early age. I was a very blessed girl growing up, having had two parents that did not rush me into growing up; they showed me how I could enjoy every day and what came with it, and they helped me understand that following my own pace is what’s the best for me. Even though I briefly talked about young children and teens, I want to see that everyone, no matter how old, tends to compare their ‘progress’ with someone else. The only thing I can say, that really helped me when I fully understood its meaning and accepted its effect, is that we all have our own paste and THAT IS OK!

Comparing our lives and what’s going on in them with those of others might be a good motivational element that we use, but it can also be harmful in the sense that we will want to make things possible for ourselves before their right time has come. How will we know when the time is right? What we will be doing will not feel forced, will not feel unnatural, but it will seem like the right thing to do at the moment. Enjoy what each God-given-day brings! Even though we might not understand at the moment that what’s happening is the best thing, we only have to wait and take each day as it comes. And by that, I mean that what we have to do is let someone else take the wheel while we look out the window and enjoy the absolutely breathtaking scenery of the day with its wonders and beauty. Don’t speed up because all you will see will be a blurry scenery that’s quickly passing you by; trust that the ‘driver’ will carefully follow the road and its turns.

I wish we will all take time to enjoy even the smallest elements of our days and that we will feel comfortable delighting in the scenery ahead of us!

‘Till next time…