“You’re thinking too far into the future. You should focus on the current challenge ahead of you first.”
This was what a family member advised me when I confided in them about my worries of the future. Where am I going to work? Can I actually secure a job in the firm that I aimed for? Do I know what field should I major in? How am I supposed to take care of myself when I feel like I barely know anything at all? Is this the path for me, or am I just taking the conventional route? By this stage in the timeline, aren’t I already supposed to have the answers to all these questions?
Doubt after doubt after doubt.
Oh how I sometimes wish I could skip ahead or press forward on life’s remote control; to be able to have a glimpse of my answered questions, to know with a little more insurance of why things had to happen the way they did and what in the world am I waiting for.
The problem however, is this: you can’t skip chapters. Darling, that’s not how life works. You have to read every line and meet every character in order to see your whole story. And the fact of the matter is, you won’t enjoy all of it. Hell, some chapters will make you wish you weren’t able to feel as much as you do. You will read things you don’t want to read, but you will also have moments of immense happiness — the pages you wished won’t ever have to come to an end.
But regardless, you have to keep going. Each and every of our stories helps to keep our world revolving. My dear, remember that you are living, breathing, and full of hope.
As much as we talk about wanting to go at our own pace, the reality is that we are all a part of this world. And in this world, we all have our fair share of needing to adhere to timelines and deadlines. Although we should be mindful of all these responsibilities, we need to also strike a balance between enjoying our every waking moment versus building our foundation for a future we can look forward to.
Let us not allow life’s many details and troubles rob our joy of today;
Let us learn instead to take things step-by-step, and day-by-day.
To ditch the expectations that you or others think your life should be following;
And instead to trust the process, and that everything is unfolding as it should.
I hope you know that you deserve it all. Being able to look yourself in the mirror and think “yes, I’m exactly who I want to be and where I’m meant to be now”. To be able to speak up, and acknowledge that there is progress — and how there is always room for more.
I am terrified about the uncertainty and unfamiliarity of my future, but I want to learn to live in the now. To savour every moment, in its ups or downs, and to keep moving forward. As Dory says in Finding Nemo to “just keep swimming”, let us learn to appreciate the ‘now’ that we have.
Let us have our eyes look ahead and focused on the prize, but with our hearts open and grateful for every single moment that we are alive.
