I get envious when I see people my age and even younger having their life together when I'm just tagging along. Many changes did happen this year - such as finally being out of the nest and living with my boyfriend, trying to remain stable despite being unemployed at this time (did not start out that way since moving in, by the way), finishing up grad school, and overall being satisfied with what I'm given. But the envy is still there. I envy people who have a concrete direction as to what they are doing with their career, people starting/having a family, commitment to move forward as life progress while I'm stuck in a nostalgic bubble, and just simply being stable (especially mentally.)

I get it. Nobody's life is pitch perfect and people get where they are satisfied with through hard work, luck, or maybe both. I know that there are people worse off than myself. I just feel inadequate as to what I should still thrive for and in some cases find myself not being able to. It will not benefit me and the cycle of being nostalgic can only last for so long. I'm scared as to how it will interfere with my relationship and the future.

I wish I knew where I was going with this. I've been given every genre advice about everyone being at their own pace, etc. But I feel like I could be doing more and be on 'the other side' of people with seemingly wholesome, stable lives.

One thing I found to help me was set goals for ME and my situation. Sure a new couch seems like a piddly goal to some but to me it was big. And you never know what's around the corner for you for anything.

I left my old job about 2 years ago when my boss there got in my face for how I cut celery and threatened to fire me. Despite the fact I have a metal plate in my wrist so I can't do "chef" knife handling. I felt the need for a job change after that. So naturally I needed some retail therapy after getting sent home early that day. Ended up at the thrift store i now work at. A friend of mine was working there and I didn't know. She saw me, we chatted and it came out I was looking for a new job. They just had a bunch of cashiers quit so she talked to her boss and got me an app. 3 hours later I had the interview and job offer. So keep chipping at your goals and listen to your intuition and you'll do what you're meant to do.

I also find that I compare myself to other people too much. I put a lot of pressure on myself to have my life together. The one thing that I need to remember is that just because somebody looks like they have all the answers, it doesn't mean that they aren't struggling. Think about social media for example. When I was in college, I posted about how much of a great time I was having and all these events I attended, friends I made, etc. I didn't post about classes I failed or how I cried in the library. It may seem like you're not doing well, but you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. We're all just learning and doing the best we can. Anyone who tries to tear you down is likely having trouble facing their own insecurities.