The Storm After The Calm Before the Storm

Life, I’ve decided, is a constant cycle. One minute, everything is going really well! You have a great job, your love life is on point, you’re traveling the world. Then, the next minute, something goes wrong. You get off one roller coaster only to go stand in line for the next one….which happens to be even bigger.

Do you ever just feel like you’re at a point in your life where you don’t really know what’s going on? Nothing really great, but nothing really awful either. You just feel like you’re stuck in the middle of the confusion of figuring out what the hell is going on? If you answered yes, I am right there with you. Lately, I’ve just felt so lost and confused. There was a point not too long ago where I truly believed I had everything figured out. I had (still have) a really good job, a good relationship, and nothing really kept me from being unhappy. Now, I’ve lost my relationship and I’ve been struggling at my job in large quantities. I’ve been keeping to myself a lot because I can’t really figure out how I’m feeling and I don’t necessarily want to bring anyone down with me. Am I at a standstill in life? Is this the calm before the storm? Or am I currently stuck in some weird, confusing life storm and the calm is yet to come?

As an almost 25 year old woman, it’s hard to watch my friends and people I’ve grown up with constantly moving forward. Every time I go on social media, there’s someone buying a new house or someone else is engaged or “SURPRISE, we’re having a girl!” post. Now, here’s where things get real and what I have to constantly continue to remind myself. SOCIAL MEDIA IS A HIGHLIGHT REEL. I wish I could put that in huge flashing lights not only for myself, but for everyone else out there feeling like me. We all get sucked into the glory and beauty of social media. What we tend to forget is that we all post these life events to make us feel good and that is totally fine! BUT, we need to remind ourselves that just because it looks like someone’s life is perfect based on their instagram feed or someone is continuously moving forward in life, we ALL have struggles.

I was having a conversation with a sweet friend of mine the other day just catching up. She had told me some events going on her life that I would have absolutely never imagined based on her social media. I also told her a few of my struggles and she too had no idea because neither of us share those ugly details to the world and rightfully so! For a small example, my feed is currently filled with pictures of me killing the game (LOL ok sorry guys just hyping myself up here) in Punta Cana. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved going on my little vacation, but the majority of the time I was so anxious and in my head that I couldn’t relax which made for a really uncomfortable week. Would you have ever known that though based on the pictures I posted? Probably not.

What I’m getting at here is that life isn’t a step by step process where we have to reach a certain point by a certain time. Just because someone else is getting married or having a baby or getting a promotion at work and you’re sitting at home watching Sex and the City while eating cocoa puffs for dinner (….me….), doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong! I know this is something I constantly struggle with, but I wanted to let y’all know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We have all got our own struggles that others know nothing about. We are all moving at our own paces in our own lives. There is no map that we should be following. It’s ok to feel like you aren’t getting anywhere right now, but don’t fall down the social media rabbit hole watching everyone else’s highlight reels. I am here to tell you all (and reminding myself!) that you are exactly where you are supposed to be right now in this very moment. If you were supposed to be somewhere else, you would be there! If you are supposed to be giving birth right at this moment, well, chances are you are probably (or so I hope) in the delivery room popping out that beautiful baby right now. If you’re like me and you’re home alone with your cat eating cocoa puffs for dinner, then THAT my friends is exactly where you are supposed to be! Relax and enjoy each and every day you are given instead of worrying about not getting to the next step. Be a little easier on yourself and remember you’re doing great and that everything happens for a reason and you’ll get where you need to be.