You Are Not Behind: You’re on Your Own Timeline

When you genuinely begin your path to happiness, one of the most important things to remember is that it is a personal experience, not one shared with anyone else. It’s easy to compare yourself to others, but their mistakes and successes don’t reflect on you. You are not them, and they are not you. Your voyage, pain, successes, and failures—they are truly yours.

Comparison is one of the easiest ways to lose sight of your purpose as your vision becomes muddier and you lose sight of the joy associated with experiencing your growth, which often looks different from other people’s paths. Someone else’s journey to success and reaching certain milestones does not mean you are behind; it simply means you are on a different excursion. Life is not a competition or a race; it is your adventure to become the best version of yourself, at your own pace and in your own time.

Another’s success doesn’t lessen your chance, nor is your result determined by their failure. Similarly, we all have our journeys filled with different lessons, timing, and struggles. You were not meant to walk their path; you were meant to navigate your expedition and blaze your trail.

Let go of comparing yourself to others. Celebrate your small wins, stay true to your core values, and continue to show up for yourself. The actual quest to find happiness begins when you stop looking over your shoulder and start being excited about the place you are right now. Trust that your timing is perfect for your story, and focus on living a life that feels good to you inside, rather than on how it appears to others from the outside. That is where true peace resides; that is where true fulfillment lies.

Happiness is a mental state that you can choose to adopt every minute of your day, no matter your circumstances. You may choose each day to wake up with gratitude and humility, often creating the possibility of a more peaceful and productive day. Life will bring challenges and setbacks (what would life be without a few surprises?), but if you can choose to search for the positives in what life brings, those choices can help you shift your focus. When you actively choose optimistic over pessimistic (labeling everything as negative), you invite possibilities into your space that you can be joyful about.

It is always easier to focus on what is wrong (with the fears of the future creating the saddest version of reality). However, true serenity lies in equilibrium—understanding that life is never flawless, yet discovering joy and thankfulness amidst difficulties and hopelessness. Life does not have to be filled with life-changing, lofty blessings—sometimes it is just the opposite: small moments, small victories, and opportunities to grow and learn. If you do not know how to appreciate what you have, trust me, you might miss your best opportunities.

Focus on Your Happiness

Choose gratitude, seek the good, and a joy-filled space will remain in your heart. It’s essential to understand that you cannot make someone else happy, and they cannot make you happy either. Real happiness comes from inside you. The first thing you must do is feel good about yourself, your life, and your purpose. Only then can you add any joy to someone else’s life. The same goes for them. Part of healthy love is not looking to someone else to create happiness within you. Healthy love consists of two individuals who are happy and healthy and choose to share joy with and support each other’s growth and development.

There isn’t a moment when being with someone else can fix everything or make it perfect. It does not work that way! When you engage in activities that stimulate excitement, pride, and motivation, the energy from those activities flows over into the person. Therefore, you must first focus on building a life that lights you up and makes you feel positive, both inside and out. The happiness you nurture inside is the happiness you will extend to others.