Ducks in a Row

To the one who feels like they have to have it all together –

Hey. I wanted to let you know you’re doing a great job. Your hard work is appreciated and you hold a lot of things together for the people around you. But all of that pressure you put on yourself? All of the times you felt like you needed everyone to believe you had all of your ducks in a perfect, straight row when they were in fact running all different directions? The times when you may not have even known where all of the ducks were? I wanted to let you in on a little secret about that – it’s okay. It’s okay to not have it all together. It’s okay to be living a life that is full of chaos. There is a certain beauty to it.

There are 7.674 billion people on this planet, and each individual one is different from the next. That’s a ton of people and a ton of unique qualities, but there is one thing every human has in common – their life isn’t perfect. It’s just a fact. There is only one single person who ever has and ever will live a perfect life, and (I say this with as much love as possible) it is not you. And it is not me either. So, what is the point of trying to pretend like we have the world wrapped around our finger and the secret to life in our back pocket? It’s tiring. It’s a burden. Most importantly, and hear me out on this, it’s o v e r r a t e d.

Now, let me just clarify really quick, I am not saying it is overrated to have a plan for your life and be successful with a schedule. There are also definitely times when there are benefits to faking it until you make it. Do I think this is every second of your life with every single person you know? No, I don’t. The burden is too big, and people in your life enjoy you for you; chaos, mistakes, imperfections included. There are people around you who want to love you where you are at and offer grace to the situations you find yourself in. You are allowed to live in craziness and you are allowed to embrace it.

You may miss an appointment because you wrote down the wrong time. You might walk out the door one morning with two different shoes on because you woke up late for work. Life happens – that is where the beauty is in it. It is an inevitable force that insists on having its way. Life is unpredictable and uncontrollable, so there is no point in trying to hold on to the reins too tightly. If you asked me how my life was going right now, I would tell you it is one giant “I don’t know”. I don’t know what I want my career to be or what the next few months will look like or what is going to make me happy in this season of life. Embracing that is the best decision I have ever made. Life will get you where you need to go one way or the other. Drop the pressure of perfection. Leave the burden at the door. Live in the beauty of the chaos.

Optimistic thought of the day - love where you are in life no matter what that looks like right now. Chase what makes you happy and leave everything else behind.