"Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind
The race is long and in the end, it's only with yourself"
The advice above is from Baz Lurhmann in Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen), a song based on a mock commencement speech by Mary Schmich, written in 1997. I remember hearing this song in school on what was probably the first phone ever with the ability to play Mp3s. At the time I probably only enjoyed it for the dope beats. As I have grown older I've more fully appreciated the lyrics, and they truly give the best advice.
I've always been in a hurry to "grow up". Even now, when I am, by all accounts, a qualified grown up, I'm still hurrying to grow up even more. More responsibility, more complaints, more excuses. As someone without kids or any dependents, I'm really in a pretty peachy position, and I definitely don't appreciate it enough. But the problem is that I am, in all honesty , worried about being behind: and I shouldn't be. Behind who?
There is no need to compare your successes to other people's . Their multi million pound deal may as well be your getting out of bed for all you care. It really doesn't concern you. The only thing that should concern you, is you. And I mean that. Not even your close friends, your family, your parents, should affect you with they're hypothetical judgments. That is not to say good advice should be taken lightly, and taking other's advice over your own is a hard balance to achieve, but you should always reflect on yourself more than on others.
Look ahead. Look where you want to go. Look straight ahead, and keep going even when you think it's going slow. At the end of the day , it's only going slow because you're comparing it to other people's goings. To yourself, it is forward, and nothing else. When life is against yourself rather than the world, existence becomes much less of a burden. Be happy with yours and your own. You've got a whole lifetime, and what is slow will speed up, and what is too fast will slow down. Chill, and...wear sunscreen.
Shout outs go to @chvrch and @sundew for spreading good vibes, and @heidimae for her new set coming out in about 3 hours after this post goes live.
Godspeed,
Bragi