Season of Waiting

“Why do I feel like running out of time?”

“They are already achieving this at an early age, why can’t I?”

“What if I won’t be successful?”

“What if I can’t achieve my dreams?”

What if…what if…

For always, we have too many what ifs. The pressure we feel upon thinking of our future makes us anxious and oftentimes we feel disappointment within ourselves. Truth be told, I am a product of this “what if” kind of mindset.

What if someday, I’ll be the same old girl who lives in the same town, living the same old life? What if my friends already have their cars while I’m still taking a jeep? What if they already have successful businesses while I’m still searching for a stable job? What if I end up being nothing in the future?

Too many what ifs to the extent that we forget the now. Oftentimes we tend to seek for people’s validation and hate rejections. Then reality hits us like lightning in a broad day, we are so focused on what is to come and what we should be, that we forget to live in the present moment.

Ladies and gentlemen, no one is too late in achieving one’s dream. There is beauty in delayed gratification and I want you to know that we have our own timelines. We have our own lives carved in a canvas that needs a thorough time to be completed in order to achieve the art that we desire. There is no deadline for us to achieve our dreams. Let us stop that mentality that at the certain age we have to achieve something.

“At 22, you need to have a stable job” then “At 25, you need to have a house and be financially stable” after that “At 28, you have to settle and be married” and all the timelines that people set in our lives. DON’T SETTLE FOR THAT. Never let anyone dictate your life and don’t let them be the artist of your own art.

You can settle at 32 and still be happy or you can get a stable job at 28 and still be content. Don’t compare your pace to others because you run at your own pace at your own time. What matters is how you enjoy the seasons of patiently waiting until it’s your turn. Enjoy the process of waiting, the delays and rejections because someday, you’ll be that art no one could ever take their eyes off.

Yes, there are countless times wherein we feel as though it’s “me against the world.” The times wherein it seems like there’s no end to these problems, as if you have all the rocks thrown at you. And in that moment, we blame ourselves for the wrong choices, for the rejections and for how dumb we think we are. We tend to be so hard on ourselves and yet, we cling to this positivity as if it could save us and disregard the negativities and obstacles we are facing. However, that’s not the real deal. We have to face our hurdles fiercely and learn to accept that that’s just how life is. There are times when we are on cloud nine and there are times wherein the clouds are overcast.

As what Mark Manson said “The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.”

Thus, we will never be truly happy if we continue to search for what happiness consists of. We must learn to accept and appreciate our progress and achievements. We are a work on progress and everyday we strive to achieve something we desire. Hence, we must acknowledge that life isn’t always rainbows but there are storms within.

I know it is easier said than done. Nonetheless, you have to believe in yourself that you’ll make it and you’ll get through all of these obstacles. Trust the process, trust the delays, trust the rejections and trust the seasons of waiting because someday, you’ll look back and think to yourself, “Wow, I’ve come this far. I made it” Someday, you’ll be grateful for those delays, rejections and waiting because those have made you stronger and wiser than ever before. For always, learn to accept, appreciate what you have achieved and acknowledge what you have gone through.

You are still young,

Still dreaming,

Still learning,

Still growing,

And that’s okay, so keep going.

-Lendejhar-