If Only I Knew This Earlier

Some people usually say, The earlier you know something, the better for you., I cannot agree less with that saying because, in a way, it is absolutely true. Sometimes, when I am alone, I tend to think a lot about the past and also visualize the future. Seeing this prompt made me have some thoughts about the past, especially when I was younger and walking around with the mindset that everything will be okay and things will always go smoothly. I wish I could have known and snapped back to reality that everything will not always be okay and no one is coming to save me.

Back in those days, I usually thought that life was a bed of roses and that things would continue to align just the way I wanted them for myself. I thought the little I know would be sufficient. I was introduced to some online jobs. I started it with big plans, but I was not fixed and consistent with it because my eyes were focused on another thing. I needed something that would give me urgent money because everything I was doing, the results seemed slow, but then, I did not know that slow progress is also progress, and with time, it will yield results.

I was also the type that worried too much about what people would say. There were some things I should have done, but I always think about how people will react. When some of my guys were making fast money, I stayed back. Then I was like maybe God didn't like me not knowing that I was the one staying behind. But this day, I do it anyway because if I do it, they will talk, and if I don't, they will find something to say again.

But what I wish I knew earlier is that though growth is very beautiful, the process is also boring. Some of the people whose footsteps I am following today are people who do things when nobody applauds them, people who failed and never gave up, and people who did not do things for show because they did everything when no one was watching. They endured and managed their spending when everyone around them was busy spending lavishly. And I learned how to exercise patience from that because it shows me that so far I am doing it right; I still have it under control.

And if I could give some words of advice to my younger self then, it would always be patience: keep showing up, learn from others, and when things are bothering me or seem confusing, ask questions that will help. And always save up; do not spend lavishly.

I have learned a lot of things from this life, and some are to always be consistent in what I am doing, to always have good character, and to always choose myself because that is a peaceful thing to do.

Though I do not have the power to go back in time, from some of the things I have learned, I can continue to work on that and not put pressure on myself because that's what makes all the difference.

Thank you for reading.

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