There’s No Such Thing as a Timeline

Do you ever find yourself thinking “I thought I would have ______________ by now”?

“I thought I would have my dream job by now.”

“I thought I would be married by now.”

“I thought I would have graduated college by now.”

“I thought I would have had kids by now.”

“I thought I would have scaled my business my now.”

When you start to think about those types of things, do you also start to get discouraged about where you’re at? It’s like you put this unnecessary pressure on yourself to be at a certain spot in life at a certain age – and if you don’t hit those “deadlines” it can be incredibly disheartening. I understand your frustration. Truly, I do. But that’s not why I am writing about this. I am writing to encourage you to give yourself a little grace on your “timeline”.

When I was younger I had my life completely planned out. I had a certain age I would graduate college, a timeframe when I wanted to get married, and what job I would have. I thought about when I would buy my first house and I thought I knew when I would want to have kids. LOL SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD KELLY DIDN’T HAVE A CLUE.

If I had followed the timeline I dreamed up almost 10 years ago, my life would look so incredibly different. Sure, I would have graduated college around the same time I had anticipated I would, but I would not have gotten married until I was 24. I would have owned a home by the time I was 22. And honestly, I thought I would have at least two kids by now.

Obviously, that timeline didn’t pan out.  But dang guys, my life has been so much better than I could have ever anticipated. Traveling to Europe was never in my timeline, advancing in my career was never in this timeline, owning two really freakin’ cute pups was not in my timeline, and this blog was never in my timeline. I have cherished the years that Jordan and I have had just the two of us together. I think it has made us a stronger team and when we are ready to be parents one day, we are going to be rock solid. That time wasn’t in my timeline.

I guess what I am saying is, I know you probably have a timeline for yourself in your head to. And I understand why. It is fun to plan out what your life is going to look like. But I am begging you to not be so strict on that timeline for yourself. Trust that you are where you need to be right now. Trust that things are going to work out the way they are supposed to in their own time. You are not on your time. You are on the Lord’s time. So trust in that. When you focus too much on the deadlines you have in your head, you can miss all the wonderful things that are going on around you and in your life. You could miss opportunities and overlook important steps you need to take to prepare you for the things you want.

So here is a simple nudge to you to give yourself grace when it comes to your timeline.  Don’t pigeon hold yourself into having to get certain steps that society shoves down our throats done by a specific age. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. So enjoy the journey. The milestones you have in your head will come when you are ready. And I am positive they will be even better than you ever anticipated, too.

All my love,

Kelly