The following is excerpted from the September issue of the Liahona. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
On my 25th birthday, I was tidying my bedroom. My space wasn’t in order, and I kept thinking about how my life wasn’t in order either. I wasn’t where I thought I would be at age 25. I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.
I thought about how I felt as a teenager when I got my patriarchal blessing. Whenever I read about my future, I pictured someone who was almost perfect. But I realized I had not grown up to be that person I imagined. And I wondered, If my younger self could see me now, would she be disappointed?
Suddenly I found myself in tears. I felt like I had messed up my life plan. I hadn’t made any catastrophic mistakes, but I also felt like I had nothing to show for my life. I didn’t have a purpose. Everyone else had it all figured out, and there I was, crying on my bedroom floor, feeling like my whole life was a waste.
I felt alone in my confusion and despair. But even at the time, I knew I couldn’t be the only young adult struggling to find their way. As I’ve talked with others, I’ve found that very few people’s lives end up exactly as they planned. And that helps me feel less alone.
It also helps to remind myself that Heavenly Father doesn’t want me to feel like a failure. He wants me to “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope” (2 Nephi 31:20). He believes in my ability to change and grow through the power of the Savior’s Atonement. Only Satan would want me to tell myself I’ve lost my chance to become the person Heavenly Father knows I can be.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
