Having celebrated my 30th birthday just yesterday, I have been starting to think about what people have been saying when they reach this age. “Hitting the big three-o…”, “I should have figured out by now what I exactly want…”, “Age is just a number…”, and “It is too late now to discover and start something new…”. If you either have reached this age (already) or are reaching this age soon, you may have come across one of these common expressions.
When you look at it, the saying and insinuation of one can be negative (and may even lean towards the extreme end). However, it can also go the other way, with a positive twist. If you ask me, it all depends if you are a glass half-full kind of guy, or if you are one with a glass half-empty. Me? I am more of a glass half-full kind of guy, yet with a garnish of realism. Let me explain.
Hitting the big three-o has certainly made me realise that as I progress in my chronological age, time is ticking. Time is ticking so loud, and it doesn’t get any softer. From my perspective, there are so many things I still want to do, and I regret not having started on certain aspects earlier in my life, and it may even be too late now.
Stop! Take a moment for yourself, and realise that you are living in the here and now. The past is the past, and there is nothing you can do to change it. It is a waste of time to linger on the past, when all you have in front of you is the future. Sure, we could have done things differently in the past with the knowledge we have now. Heck, I would have invested in Bitcoin if I knew I would have been a millionaire by today. But, I didn’t.. and here I am.
No one could foresee the true future, and it is therefore useless to linger on the past and what you could have done differently. You could only do your very best with the knowledge you had at a certain point in time.
If I ask around, there are many among us who have not figured everything out at this age. Life is a continuous process of decisions, experience, learning, and development. Don’t feel sorry for yourself for not achieving what others have achieved. That comparison is futile. This is because your comparison will always be with someone who is your hero in your eyes.. someone who probably have reached millions of dollars on his/her bank account.. reached millions of followers on social media.. or climbed the corporate ladder to become the CEO of one of the most powerful and influential companies in the world. Once again.. Stop!
Their journey is not your journey, and your journey is not their journey. The only person who you have to compare yourself to, is the person you were yesterday. Exactly, let that sink in for a moment. “But I want to have a million dollars, and drive the fastest car! This should have happened to me! Not to some 16-year-old kid who failed at his recent math exam.”
Let me stop you right there. You are comparing yourself with the wrong person. If you take a good look in the mirror, and you ask that person if he/she has gotten any further in life over the past years, how would he/she respond? Try it.. I dare you…
The point is, age, though realistically of significance, is not the determining factor of who you are and who you potentially can be in the future. It matters a whole lot more how you progress in life under current circumstances through the opportunities and decisions that you make in the very present, and the future.
Don’t beat yourself up for not achieving yet what you want to achieve. Focus on what you want and how you want to achieve it. Life is a continuous process where your heart and mind may be subject to change preferred destinations.
How I know? Easy. Because I am experiencing this myself.
Our lives are in our own hands. No one has the power to change our destinies other than our very selves.