It's super important that you know

It's okay if you haven't finished reading a book in weeks or you're really bad at staying up-to-date with your blog and Twitter and Facebook or if you don't have that many friends or if you have a lot. It's okay if you don't act like everybody else or if you do act like everybody else (if that's the true expression of you) and it's okay to feel lost and confused and ordinary/weird. Everybody does, at some point. It's okay if you feel like you're entirely alone in the world, and it's important to know that you're not. It's okay if you're having trouble writing or if you don't think you're good enough. It's important that you know that those feelings - feelings of inadequacy and isolation and everything else - are felt by everybody.

It's important to know that the perfect faces you see of the people around you, the people on the internet, the people in the magazines - that's what they want you to see, that's what they choose to reveal. And you're probably doing the exact same thing. You are jealous of other people no matter how much you wish you weren't, and other people are jealous of you, and perhaps you're even jealous of each other. And everybody wants to be happy, and everybody has things they keep to themselves, and everyone is fighting a hard battle.

Nobody is absolutely sure of themselves (and if such people exist, they must be absolute legends). And that's okay. But the person you are right now - who is fabulous and beautiful and important to the people around you in ways you can't imagine - is perfect. It doesn't matter whether you get a book deal or lose ten kilos or become rich and famous, because you will still be the same on the inside. Decide to be content right now. Strive for your dreams, absolutely, but know that you're a wonderful person regardless of what happens.

And I know I've said this before, and you've heard it from everyone else before, I'm sorry, but it can never be said enough (and everyone should keep on saying it until everyone believes it): Life's too short to keep putting yourself down. Go out and enjoy it. Follow your dreams, but love yourself right now, not once you attain some ideal you've got set up in your head.

*I originally wrote & posted this two years ago. I hope you don't mind an occasional re-run. Sometimes I run out of blogging inspiration. I think this is a nice post and worth reminding yourself of.*