You are Still New to Life: Give Yourself Grace

A wise person once told me this, and it’s stuck in my mind ever since:

Assume you were “born” the day you became aware that you’re an adult. Like, the moment you woke up to the reality that life is on you now, no one’s holding your hand anymore.

No, not your actual birthday. I mean the day you truly realized, oh… this is life now.

For some people like me, that’s right after school. Let’s say you finished college at 22. At 23, it hits you, I’m on my own. That’s Day One. You’re basically a newborn in your “real life.”

And from that point, you grow the same way a child does. Slowly. Making a mess of things. And falling tons of times.

You Wouldn’t Yell at a Newborn to Run, Would You?

When you’re born, no one expects you to stand up and start walking, let alone running. You learn to crawl first. You fall a lot. You’re wobbly. You try, fail, try again. Next thing, it becomes your second nature.

But in adulthood, we expect ourselves to go from “just started doing life” to “having it all figured out” instantly… ridiculous, isn’t it? Especially since we weren’t taught adulting stuff in school, only calculus and the history of our country. You can’t use that in real life now, can you?

We jump into life like we should be budgeting, investing, crushing a career, keeping a perfect home, balancing relationships, being disciplined, etc… without ever having learned how.

It’s like looking at a toddler and saying, Why aren’t you taking yourself to bed? or Why can’t you eat corn?

You’re Going to Mess Up and That’s Fine

When you’ve only been “doing life” on your own for a short while, it’s going to be so messy.

You’ll be inconsistent in stuff you want to be consistent in. 

You’ll lack motivation when you need it the most. 

You’ll start things and not finish, multiple times. 

You’ll compare yourself to people when that’s the last thing you need.

All this means is that you’re still growing… in the process of becoming an adult.

Same Thing When You Start Something New

This isn’t just about adulthood. It’s about anything new.

New job? 

Side hustle? 

Fitness routine? 

Relationship? 

Creating content?

Expect to suck at it at first. Expect to lack direction and be unsure. Expect to mess up. That’s the “toddler phase.” You’re learning to walk.

Over time, you’ll figure it out. You’ll get more consistent. It’ll start feeling natural.

Give Yourself Grace

The day you realized you’re doing life alone is your real birth date into adulthood. And just like a newborn, you need time to grow before you can run.

So stop expecting yourself to have everything figured out right away.

You’ll get there. Just give yourself the same patience you’d give a child learning to walk.

See you on my next. Bye!🤎