Honestly, You Are Pretty Rad

If you have graduated high school in the last decade you have more than likely come across a few social media posts documenting the pregnancy of one friend or another, someone moving halfway across the world to administer medical aid to impoverished countries, how an old classmate created a successful startup, or the girl who sat behind you in history class has now perfected the art of public speaking, while others have also done so much more!

With all that said, what have you done? What have you done that can compare to any of the things on your newsfeed?

Maybe you have done something similar or maybe you haven’t, but that is okay. Know that you will never be like the person who has accomplished a resume filled of successes. But also keep in mind that they will never be you. Neither of you are the lesser and neither of you are more valuable than the other. We are all individually unique. Whatever it is, whether you have traveled or stayed at home, spent time creating a family or took a few years off to rediscover yourself, I hope you know that you are worthy of celebration.

Yes, you are worthy of cheers, pats on the back, ‘woot woot’s and a whole bucket load of sparkly confetti.

So what if you have yet to accomplish all the things on your bucket list or that even a few of the students who graduated a year after you have gone off to do amazing things – that it no way diminishes how far you have come.

It is all too easy to think that others deserve to be congratulated more than our own selves because it looks like they’ve gone far. My dear, if you would only take a look behind you and realize the mileage you’ve put in. The path that you have carved has unknowingly inspired a number of people around you. Take notice of your steps, whether big or small, and take pride in them too.

It would be a practical disservice to yourself not to realize that you deserve to take the same amount of delight in your own life that you do in others when they succeed. Additionally, when others take the time to congratulate you, accept their words as honesty and not bloated flattery.

You’ve grown so much.

Learned so much.

Completed so much.

Go out and know it’s okay to feel great about all that you are. Because honestly, you are pretty rad.

– image credit: Teniola Komolafe