Jan 23, 2021
A letter to everyone fighting their own battles
Every individual is bound to go through some kind of struggles in this brutal world. It’s up to us on how we handle it.
This is a letter from a person with high insecurities, always overthinking about every aspect of my life, fear of failure, losing, comparison, and competition. The world is exceptionally harsh; many of your friends and family may rise to higher levels, found their ‘thing’, or are successful. You got to accept it. Don’t cry about it.
Maybe you are a fresh graduate still searching for a job for over a year, maybe you are an artist trying to find your way through the industry, maybe you want to shift careers, maybe you just want to stand up for yourself… It’s alright. You’ve got this and you will pave the way to what you deem success is when you make an effort to do so.
After reading the first two paragraphs, you will be like, “Okay this is just too much amateur stuff. It’s effortless to say things like this without knowing others’ situations and obstacles to achieve something”. You may even stop reading this article and that’s okay. Because I know I would stop reading this article if someone else wrote this.
But all I can ask you is, continue reading this article as I talk about my story, my struggles, and how I am TRYING to follow the first two paragraphs I wrote in this article.
I am a very insecure person and constantly do compare myself to others. Often leads to me overthinking, requiring external validation from friends and family, and having an overall sadness around me. I don’t want to blame anyone for how I am, because only I can fix myself. No one else can fix how I am. To become a better person; a happier person, I’m solely responsible for it.
For the last couple of years, I knew exactly how I was. I learned how it would affect me in the future, yet I did nothing about it. I never even believed that the emotional part of me could play such a significant role in how I view things, in my career, and my relationships with others. I always thought only about the outcome; i.e., you work hard, do the exact steps and you will be successful. I have failed a couple of times.
Apart from the emotional and mental struggles I deal with, there are other problems I deal with (i.e., finance-wise). And the only way I handle these problems is by being thankful for my family and friends who calm me down. Otherwise, it would lead me to that dark place called “depression” and yeah, I wouldn’t be able to handle it all.
So when the whole year took a turn, which made me sit at home 24/7, these struggles and problems I faced became worse. There was more overthinking, more imposter syndrome kicking inside me, more financial problems that I had to deal with, and more sadness and frustration.
But it also gave me A LOT of time to think on the positive sides. I started being active on LinkedIn and it gave me a chance to read through other people’s situations and how they overcame it. I was able to resonate with them and also made me realize that good things take time. It’s completely fine if you did not get a job sooner, it’s completely fine if it’s taking time to get your work recognized and it’s completely fine to shift careers… As long as you put in the work and effort.
I found my lost love again. I started reading books, books that inspire and motivate me. One such book that has motivated me is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s like she’s having a casual conversation with me and there’s one thing I wanted to highlight from her book:
“Such thinking assumes that the mysteries of inspiration operate on the same scale that we do — on a limited human scale of success and failure, of winning and losing, of comparison and competition, of commerce and reputation, of units sold and influence wielded. Such thinking assumes that you must be constantly victorious — not only against your peers, but also against an earlier version of your own poor self. Most dangerous of all, such thinking assumes that if you cannot win, then you must not continue to play”
We all go through different problems. I get it that failing during tough times when we barely have anything can be challenging. I have been going through that a lot. And that prevented me from taking risks that would have made me successful.
I’m just 23 years old. I’m in no position to tell you all what’s right and what’s wrong. I am going through a lot; I definitely feel frustrated that I’m nowhere in my career, that my work is not recognized yet and that I can’t get my emotions together. But I’m boldly accepting the situation and moving on to see where my life takes me. I’m TRYING to keep my emotions together, I’m TRYING to believe in myself and hopefully, things will turn out for the best.
But all I can say to you readers is that it’s brutal out there, that’s guaranteed. You will fail, but continue to do what you love and when you least expect it, things will turn out for the best! (Again, I know that’s very easy for me to say, but have an open mind, trust yourself, and put in the effort!)
