Letters of Youth

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE “LEFT-BEHINDS”

/ 5 June 2021

Isn’t it hard to be in your 20’s and is still confused about where you should be at this point in your life?

It’s hard to not compare yourself to what you see in other people who are the same age as you or younger. Admit it or not, sometimes, it feels like the universe is being unfair to you. As a normal human being who is far from perfect, you can’t help but feel jealous that some of your batch mates from grade school are already into investments while you are at home wondering how you will be able to surpass every day.

It’s even annoying to know that some of your classmates from high school are either building their own families or are in a stable and healthy relationship. Well,  here you are, feeling like you can’t even get someone to like you, not even your “friends” seems to want to keep up with you.  It’s not that you are not trying, in fact, you did. It’s tiring. It’s exhausting to always try and fail. It seems unfair. Why do some people don’t even have to go through this?

Here’s the thing. It will not always turn out the way we planned it. Yeah, right, we’ve heard that already. But what do we do when it’s true? It is what we need to understand sometimes.

For the relationships that didn’t work out, stop thinking that it’s because they’re not the ones for you. It might be one of the reasons but surely NOT THE ONLY REASON. The reason why it didn’t work out might be because there are things about you that you need to improve.

Stop that accept-me-for-what-I-am kind of thinking. Get yourself up, and work on yourself first. You have the rest of your days to do so. And by chance, somebody comes up to you again, be mindful of the red flags. You aren’t working on yourself only to be broken down to pieces again. You should not be rushing into it. Dump them if you must and NEVER EVER lower your standards just so you could be in a relationship. We know our worth here, babe. (Keep the standards realistic, by the way!)

Accept the fact that you will lose friends along the way and it’s okay. No need to feel bad about it. It’s part of growing up. Apparently, not every person you want to be with for the rest of your life doesn’t want you to be part of theirs or you probably just outgrew each other.

Be brave and accept it. If there’s a person who will always have your back, it is you. Let me remind you by the way that you DON’T have to always be readily available. It’s not wrong to say no if you don’t feel like being around that kind of energy. Stop forcing yourself to hang out with people you don’t want to hang out with or when you don’t want to hang out and most of all, NEVER come uninvited. It’s okay if you’re not there in every barkada pics.

That business which didn’t take off, are you really putting your heart into it? Have you tried different platforms to sell your products or services to? If you were the consumer, would you buy the products and/or services that you offer? Is that really your passion? Does it really make you happy? If yes, then keep promoting it. Even if it is discouraging you already, push through. Post it on different platforms as possible, and KEEP ON PROMOTING.

Even if none of the people you know seems to believe in you, just know that there are strangers rooting for you. And if you got confused about whether or not this makes you happy, take time to breathe and contemplate. Know to stop if necessary. Do not push through if it’s not what you want to do, instead, use your break as a time to figure out what you really want to do. You are not in a competition with anyone.

And, you were never hired. Here’s what you can do, try to discover and improve a skill, be dedicated, and monetize it. Be wise. Use the time you have effectively. Learning will cost you 0.00 amount of money. Be your own boss.

With that being said, you have reached the latter and it might be because you believe that you are one of the “Left-Behinds”. Well, I’d like to break something to you. You are not left behind. You are just in time. You are never too late nor too early for things that are meant for you.

It’s okay to not have the rest of your life figured out yet. You are young and you are not in a race with anyone to say that you are being left behind. You don’t have what others have because whatever it is that they have right now is not for you. The way their lives unfold will never be the same as the way yours will. You have just enough time to do things at your own phase. Don’t freak out, don’t stress out. There’s no such thing as deadlines. Everything is falling into place accordingly. Just keep on working on yourself and prepare for what is in store for you as the universe will conspire to hand you the things you worked and prayed hard for.

Life is not always about having a fat bank account, tons of “friends”, and a romantic relationship as soon as you become an adult but it is about learning instead. Please be kind to yourself as you are still starting. You will not always get things right in one shot. The season for you to bloom will come your way too.