January 3, 2016.
When I was younger I thought for sure I would have my life "together" by this point. Together for me meant that I would have the love of my life, a good job, education almost over, and everything just perfect. (I would love to point out that I just turned 20 in November.) Of course now it seems unorthodox. Now it seems that I had the mentality that by 20 everything would be so perfect, and I would have no complaints.
I think when you're young you like to think that when you get older life will essentially have fallen into place and be a magical fantasy all the time. That is not the case; whatsoever. When we're young we want nothing more than to be older, to not have to ask our parents' permission for anything, to pick out our own clothes, and go the mall without parental supervision. When we're older we want nothing more then to have no responsibilities, no obligations. We forget that there's no going back. We find ourselves spending more time wishing we could go back/forward, rather than enjoying the little bit of time we have in the now.
I'm a fresh 20. I have one semester left until I have my Associate's in Liberal Arts; one year closer to beginning my Bachelor's in Social Work. I'm still at my first job, where I've been for a year and six months now. I have no love life, and I couldn't be happier with the life I'm living. It took me years to be able to be comfortable in my own skin, and genuinely be more than okay with the stage of life I'm in. It doesn't happen overnight, but when it does happen it's a beautiful thing. I love the chocolate skin I'm in and I wouldn't have it any other way. It takes effort, time, and love. Loving yourself first takes time and it's a constant journey. It comes from within and radiates outwards. It has no timeline, and everybody's is vastly different. My journey is far from over, and to me, it's just beginning.
In front of every goal we set for ourselves, loving ourselves and the life we were blessed with should be at the forefront. It's this constant positivity that should drive us in meeting all the other goals we have.
Time doesn't wait for anybody. We forget it so easily. It is more then okay to sit and reminisce on what has happened, but it is never okay to dwell on what could have happened. They are two different things. We know this, but yet we chose to ignore it. Life is such a beautiful thing. The ups and downs we experience are what make us who we are. Remember that.