It is important to speak you truth. So many of us assume we know the next person's story. We make statements, catch feelings, and hold thoughts as if our perspective is everyone else's perspective. We see a minuscule portion of someone else's life from the outside looking in, and immediately jump to conclusions. Social media has made it so much easier for us to not only make assumptions, but to "prove" those assumptions, and steadfastly hold on to them.
I am 38 years old. I have a bachelor's degree in English (2004). I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology (2006). I have a Juris Doctor (2009). I have an LLM (2015). I am licensed to practice law in both Illinois and Florida. I own and manage The Law Office of L. E. Everett, PLLC (me). I own and manage Bleu Anchor Entertainment, LLC. I am actively in the process of starting yet another business. I am someone others choose to admire.
After all of that (just to name a few), I still say to myself every single day..."Lynell, you really need to get your life together." And then, I have a panic attack wondering how I'm going to do it. I am often convinced that I don't have the strength to make it through the day. At least once a day, every single day, I completely give up on life because it's all so overwhelming. At least once a day, every single day, I seriously wonder if I'm good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, young enough, old enough, astute enough, knowledgeable enough, financially stable enough, liked enough, loved enough, respected enough... Many days I wake up and my first thought is, "Fuck! I can't do any of this today!"
Our struggles are not the same. Our successes are not the same. Because our journeys are not the same. I can't tell you how I will make it through tomorrow's struggles (and successes for that matter) because I have no clue how I made it through yesterday's. I can tell you that however it happens, I absolutely will make it through.
Speak your truth. Walk your truth. Focus on your truth. Live your truth. I speak, walk, focus, and live my truth by holding myself accountable to only me. For you, if you see my struggles tomorrow, don't assume I had no successes. If you see my successes tomorrow, don't assume I had no struggles. More importantly...no, MOST importantly, when you see my story tomorrow and for however many days to come, don't compare it to your story. We are not reading from the same book.