Why It’s Okay to Feel Lost in Your 20s

In this day and age, it can seem like you’re supposed to have everything figured out. You look around you and everyone you know is talking about their seemingly perfect lives. It’s easy to feel like a failure because of this – like you just aren’t measuring up.

Trust me, I know what it’s like. I’ve been there – in fact, I still am there. Having graduated fairly recently, I’ve been spending a lot of time hearing all about what all my peers have been up to – travelling, studying, working their first full-time jobs, and so on. Since I am not currently doing any of these things I sometimes can’t help but wonder where I’m going wrong. What’s the secret to everyone’s success? How is it that everyone has suddenly become much more “grown up” than me?

There’s no easy answer to this, though I do like to remind myself and anyone who feels this way that people only like to talk about the good things happening in their lives. I mean, think about it… When you go on Facebook or Instagram or whatever else, are you posting about the good stuff or the mediocre?

It’s the good stuff, right?

That means that whenever we hear from friends and acquaintances we’re really only getting part of the story. I’ve written about this before, but we would all do well to remember that the people we think “have it together” most likely doubt themselves from time to time – just like the rest of us. We’re just missing the parts of the story they think paint them in an unsuccessful or unhappy light.

What’s interesting about this predicament we’ve found ourselves in is that it’s something that everyone goes through. Being lost in your 20s is a rite of passage. Yet, to admit you’re feeling lost is a bit of a no-no – and because we don’t admit it, we think we’re alone in feeling this way.

Life goes on for a long time and we’re still so young. Why would have everything figured out straight away? It’s going to take time to think about and process what is that we do or do not want to do with the rest of our lives – and even these decisions might change after a while. It might feel like we’re supposed to know everything already, but we don’t. This is a process that shouldn’t be rushed.

As we enter adulthood for the first time, how could we possibly be expected to know everything? It just doesn’t make sense. We put ourselves under so much pressure to know it all because everyone else seems to when no one actually does. If we could all be a little more honest about our insecurities we just might accept where we are in our lives.

If we worry too much about the future, we’ll miss all the wonderful things that happen right under our very noses. Know it’s okay to feel lost at this stage in your life. While you might feel uncomfortable living in such uncertainties, you’re going through a natural process – so do your best to not compare yourself to other people and their supposed successes.

Some questions for you lovely readers:

• Are you feeling lost in your 20s?
• Are you guilty of comparing yourself to others? Why do you think you do it?
• Alternatively, do you know exactly what you’re doing with your life? I’d love to hear your perspective!
• Do you think we put too much pressure on ourselves to have things worked out straight away?

 

Featured image sourced from Ivory Mix, just so you know.